Kindy roster
A kindy parent roster for every group, on one link
Add each group’s families, set the fruit, laundry and working bee dates, and FairTurns shares the turns around. The roster lives on a link instead of a laminated sheet by the sign-in book.
Free, with no limit on people or dates. No card.
The laundry bag goes home with whoever is standing nearest
Kindy runs on small jobs done by families: a bag of fruit for morning tea, the paint smocks and tea towels washed over the weekend, a parent to help on a cooking day, two working bees a term to weed the sandpit garden. Most centres keep these on a printed sheet by the sign-in book, one per group, redone each term by the director or a committee volunteer.
The sheet has the same weaknesses every term. Families on the late pick-up never see it. A family holiday in week six isn’t written anywhere. Twins in different groups get rostered twice on the same Monday. And when the laundry bag isn’t collected on Friday, the teacher ends up taking it home.
FairTurns keeps each group’s jobs on one roster, knows which families are in which group, and gives every family a link that is always current.
How FairTurns handles kindy parent help
A team for each group
Make a team for each kindy group. Families see the groups they belong to, and the director sees all of them.
Families by name
Add each family by name. Nobody needs an email or an account to be rostered, and you can invite the parents who’d like to sign in.
Jobs on the right days
Fruit on each group’s first day, the laundry bag every Friday, a working bee “Every last Saturday of the month”. Each repeats from the day you click.
Holidays left out
A family going away for two weeks is marked away for that stretch, and Fill skips them. Families without accounts can have it set for them.
Two children, two groups
A family in both groups is on both teams. Within the kindy, Fill won’t put them on two jobs at overlapping times.
Turns shared around
Fill gives each job to the family that has had the fewest turns at it. Adding families without email works the same as anyone else.
Set it up
- 01
Create the kindy
Create the organisation and a team for each group.
- 02
Name the jobs
Give each group a Fruit position, and add Laundry bag and Working bee as teams of their own, since they fall on other days.
- 03
Add the families
Paste each group’s family names, or put a join link in the term newsletter.
- 04
Set the days
Click each group’s first day, set the time and choose how it repeats.
- 05
Fill and share
Fill for the term, then share the public roster link with families.
When you want it to run itself
On Pro, parents who have accepted an invitation get a reminder email before their job, so the fruit bag is on the bench by Monday. If a family can’t make it, they say so from the email, the group’s moderator is told, and with filling by itself the next family in line is put on and asked.
A$1 a month per organisation, paid 1 to 5 years at a time. See Pro and pricing
Good to know
- One family per group per day for fruit, and one laundry family per week, is plenty for most kindies. Working bees work best with four to six families named, so it doesn’t hang on one.
- Families don’t book their own turns: you set up the jobs, FairTurns shares them out, and families see the result on the link.
- Anyone with the public link can see it, so use family surnames or children’s first names only. Email addresses and away days never show.
- Each date holds a name and times. Put the job in the position name (“Laundry: smocks and tea towels”) so families know what it means.
Questions
Can a family see only their own group?
Yes, when they sign in: people see the teams they are on, so a Possums family sees the Possums roster. The public link is one page for the whole kindy, so send families the sign-in invitation if you’d prefer groups kept apart.
What about families who never check email?
Add them by name only. They are rostered and printed like everyone else, and they can check the public link on their phone whenever they like.
A family has left mid-term. Do we redo the roster?
Untick them and run Redistribute. Their turns are handed to other families, moving as few people as possible, and you see every change before it is made.
Can the committee or director run it together?
Yes. Make the director an administrator and a committee member a team moderator for each group. Each moderator runs their own group’s roster.
How much does it cost?
It is free, with no limit on families, groups or dates. Pro adds reminder emails and automatic cover for A$1 a month for the kindy, paid 1 to 5 years at a time.
Free templates and guides
Weekly roster template
Names down the side, Monday to Sunday across: the one-page weekly roster for a small team.
People without email
Add people by name only. They’re rostered, printed and shown on the link like anyone else.
Public roster link
One read-only link anyone can open on a phone. No sign-in, nothing to install, no email addresses.
Similar rosters
Playgroups
Set-up, morning tea and pack-down shared between playgroup families, with a link for the group chat.
School canteen and tuckshop helpers
Parent helpers for the tuckshop shared across the term, with the convenor’s roster on one link.
P&C, PTA and parent associations
Uniform shop, fete stalls, discos and working bees: every P&C roster in one place, on one link.