How can I create a roster?
The roster has 4 different ways you can input data:
- Quick Entry
- Spreadsheet entry
- Graphical Scheduler
- Copying data from previous days/weeks
Please note that while you can use the mouse for these screens, the spreadsheet options (quick entry and spreadsheet entry) are optimised for keyboard entry. The entry fields that look like spreadsheets behave like spreadsheets and you can use the arrows to navigate around them, as well as control-c and control-v to copy and paste (respectively) information from one cell to another.
For example, you might select a staff member and copy their tasks to another staff member using copy and paste. On an Apple device that might be apple-c and apple-v for copy and paste. On spreadsheets, you can type the first few letters of a task or staff name - you do not need to type the whole name) and you can use the delete key on your keyboard to delete spreadsheet entries.
How can I best manage and understand staff ratio's within my Discover roster?
Centre Funding Report: Running this report with the Forecast OFF will provide the actuals for the selected periods - this information is what will be submitted to the MOE during RS7.
Using Forecast mode allows you to predict upcoming months/weeks and gets becomes more accurate as time progresses and as attendances and rosters are completed.
The funding shown in the future (when viewing with forecast off) is due to new enrolments starting, which are funded for the first week even if the child does not attend. Additionally, all children currently enrolled will be funded for 3 weeks past the last attendance.
How do I the Ministry and Room Ratio Requirements?
Navigate to Staff Roster > Roster Sheet and hover your mouse to the area with time increments.
Colours will depend on your ratio, see below:
Green - if you are in the Ministry and room ratio
Orange - if you are in the Ministry ratio for funding purposes, but out of ratio in a particular room*
Red - if you are out of the Ministry ratio and don't have enough staff at a given time
*For Discover to be able to count how many staff are in a particular room you need to assign a specific room to specific tasks.
TIP: For example, you might create "Contact Tui" and "Contact Kea" tasks and assign them to the Tui and Kea rooms in Centre Settings > Roster.
Please note: When determining your required ratios, if you have multiple rooms set up in your Centre on the same site, the Ministry Ratio is the minimum number of staff required.
To view further information regarding MOE Regulations for Adult to Child Ratios, please refer to this link.
What is my spare teacher capacity (Rule 44A)?
Spare capacity for children under 2 can, in certain cases, be set off against the number of children 2 or over in determination of adult-child ratios.
The MOE has advised that the spare capacity rule (where you can utilise 'spare' capacity in your under 2 teachers) which is intended to allow centres flexibility for services in managing children during their "transition" into over two-year-old licensed spaces should not be used by default. You can find information about Regulation 44A on the Ministry of Education website.
Administrators have the ability to turn the rule on/or off at their discretion on a day by day basis.
By default, this button is always off and will need to be manually enabled.
To turn on for a particular day, navigate to the roster sheet and click the 'S' button for spare capacity option for the relevant date. If the button is dark green, the rule has been applied, and if white, it is off.
The rules about when you can apply 44A are subject to interpretation but do state what the likely applications/scenarios are when you have a child turning 2 or a new enrolment, although there may be other reasons.
How long the "transition" lasts for (e.g. how long you can apply the rule) is not stipulated in the handbook. We advise a fairly conservative view, so, for example, this funding period we have turned it on only for a period of 7 calendar days from any new enrolment or when a child turns 2.
Services, at their discretion, can turn Rule 44A on by default, mitigating the need to manually elect on each daily roster. To apply by defauly:
- Navigate to Centre Settings > Centre Details tab
- Scroll to Roster Settings
- Tick the checkbox next to 'Shared Capacity on by default'
- Scroll down and click 'Save'.
Clarification from MOE
| Kia ora koutou, Last year we provided information to SMS vendors around the application of Regulation 44A. At that time, we advised SMS vendors that offered the functionality to assist services in applying Regulation 44A to ensure this was not applied by default. This is to advise we have now broadened the scope of how Regulation 44A can be used. Previously we said that it should only be used when children were transitioning from the 'under two' to the 'two and over' age group. Now it can be used whenever there is spare capacity in the 'under two' age group. The updated guidance about how to apply Regulation 44A is available on our website here: https://www.education.govt.nz/early-childhood/licensing-and-regulations/regulation-44a/ |
What is the ECE Qualification 50% rule?/Why is the roster ratio being displayed in red when we have the required number of teachers?
In teacher-led centre-based and hospital-based services, the person responsible must have a recognised early childhood education (ECE) teaching qualification and a current practising certificate. At least 50% of required staff must also have a recognised ECE teaching qualification.
Where 50% does not equate to a whole number, services must round up.
Teachers need not be employed full-time to count towards the 50% requirement. A part-time teacher with a recognised ECE teaching qualification can be counted at a maximum of two different licensed services.
A service can count one person who is in their final year of study towards the 50% requirement, provided they are enrolled in an approved programme that will result in a recognised ECE teaching qualification."
The above information can be found at: https://www.education.govt.nz/early-childhood/employment/qualification-requirements/
The ECE Qualified row in the Roster time hover panel serves as a reminder to this rule, but it does not take discretionary hours in to account.
If you do not want the warning to appear in red, navigate to Centre Settings > Centre Details tab > scroll to Roster Settings > ECE 50% ratio warning to adjust as required.
Person/s Responsible
In teacher-led centre-based and hospital-based services, the person responsible must have a recognised early childhood education (ECE) teaching qualification and a current practising certificate.
Having a person responsible is a requirement that must be met at all times, like adult-to-child ratios.
There must be at least one Person Responsible for every 50 children in attendance. Each Person Responsible must be nominated for the role by their service provider."
Discover will automatically assess the PR rule and also highlight if you are not meeting this requirement.
If you would like to specifically identify someone as the nominated PR for the day, a note can be added to the person in the roster.
If you opt to create a note for this purpose, you will need to include the Notes filter in the roster reports and manually assess whether the centre is meeting the rule requirements.
How can we roster for 100% within the Discover software?
With the introduction of the 100% staff ratio, many centres want to ensure their rosters are set up to reach this target (this also applies to any ratio percentage you are trying to achieve for your centre).
In Discover, go to Staff Roster > Roster Sheet tab
The ratio is displayed in the top left of the screen.
Please note: this is only in relation to the selected day and does not take into account the overall monthly assessment, especially regarding Discretionary Hours)
Clicking on this percentage value will open a table where you can see on a 15-minute basis, the required number of staff and any situations where we have to use unregistered teachers for calculation.
The roster will highlight in yellow any 15-minute block where you are not meeting the other MOE requirements. Please refer to our article Staff Ratios in the Roster for the guidelines.
Is Discover compatible with Excel Spreadsheet?
Yes. Discover can also be used in conjunction with a spreadsheet. Please see the following tip on how you can use pre-stored roster entries and paste them into the system.
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