P&C roster
Every P&C roster in one place, from uniform shop to fete day
The uniform shop, the fete, the Mother’s Day stall and the working bee each get their own team, all under one P&C. FairTurns shares parent volunteers across them and keeps the same parent out of two stalls at once.
Free, with no limit on people or dates. No card.
Fete day needs eighty volunteers and the spreadsheet has six tabs
A P&C is a handful of committee members holding up a lot of rosters. The uniform shop opens twice a week all year. The disco needs parents on the door, the canteen and the glow-stick table. The Mother’s Day stall runs for two mornings. And once a year the fete swallows the whole committee: cake stall, plant stall, white elephant, chocolate wheel, barbecue, face painting, each with a morning and an afternoon shift.
Each roster usually belongs to a different committee member, in a different spreadsheet. Nobody notices the same generous dad has been put on the barbecue and the chocolate wheel at 11 o’clock until he points it out on the day.
FairTurns puts every P&C roster under one organisation, so a parent is one person across all of them, and the fete coordinator can see the whole day on one calendar.
How FairTurns runs a P&C
A team for each activity
Uniform shop, Fete, Disco, Working bee. Each committee member can be the team moderator who runs their own one.
The fete as a one-off
Click fete day, add a morning and an afternoon time, choose “Just this once”, and add stalls as positions with headcounts: “Cake stall, 3 people”.
No double-booking on the day
Across every P&C team, Fill and Redistribute never put a parent in two places at overlapping times. Booking someone twice by hand asks first and shows where they already are.
Regular shifts all year
The uniform shop repeats “Every week on Tuesday” and “Every week on Thursday”, kept up to 12 months ahead.
Parents by the newsletter
Put a join link in the newsletter, paste names from a paper form, or add a grandparent by name only. All can be rostered.
One link for the school
Turn on the public roster and families see the whole fete roster on their phones, with names and times only.
Set it up
- 01
Create the P&C
Create the organisation and a team for each activity.
- 02
Add the stalls and jobs
In each team, add positions with how many volunteers each needs.
- 03
Gather the parents
Share a join link in the newsletter, or paste names from the volunteer form.
- 04
Set the dates
Add regular shifts that repeat, and one-off dates for the fete and the disco.
- 05
Fill and publish
Fill the empty places, check the fete day, and share the public roster link.
When you want it to run itself
On Pro, parents who have accepted an invitation get a reminder before their shift and can reply “I can’t make it” from the email. The team’s moderator is told, and with filling by itself the next parent in line is put on and asked, so the committee isn’t ringing round on the Friday night before the fete.
A$1 a month per organisation, paid 1 to 5 years at a time. See Pro and pricing
Good to know
- For a primary school fete, two shifts of two and a half to three hours each, with three people per busy stall, is a common pattern. Shorter shifts get more parents saying yes.
- Parents don’t book stall shifts themselves: the committee sets the stalls and FairTurns shares the places out. Anyone can be moved by hand.
- Clash checking covers everything inside your P&C. A parent who also helps at the weekend football club’s canteen isn’t checked against that roster.
- Each fete date has a name and times; put the stall or job in the position name so volunteers know where to go.
Questions
Can each committee member run their own roster?
Yes. Make them the team moderator for their activity. They run that team’s dates and people, and administrators can see and change everything.
Will a parent see every roster or just theirs?
When signed in, people see the teams they are on. The public roster link shows the whole P&C, so share it when you want the full picture out there.
Can we use it for a PTA or a parents’ association overseas?
Yes. It works the same for a PTA, a PTO or a parents’ association. Prices are in Australian dollars, and the roster itself is free wherever you are.
How do we get the fete roster to parents who don’t read email?
Print the roster page, stick it on the office window, and put the public link in the newsletter and the class chats.
What does it cost the P&C?
The rosters are free, with no limit on parents, teams or dates. Pro, with reminders and automatic cover, is A$1 a month for the whole P&C, paid 1 to 5 years at a time.
Free templates and guides
Volunteer roster template
A volunteer schedule with shifts, roles, a contact column and a spot to tick in on the day.
How to make a volunteer roster
Roles, headcounts, away days and a roster people can check: a volunteer roster that lasts the season.
Positions and headcounts
Name the jobs on each date and how many people each needs. Nobody gets a job they’re not set up for.
Similar rosters
School canteen and tuckshop helpers
Parent helpers for the tuckshop shared across the term, with the convenor’s roster on one link.
Sausage sizzle roster
Cooks, bread and sauce, and the float for a fundraising BBQ, in short shifts from 8 till 4.
Event volunteers
Gate, car park, raffle and pack-down shifts for a fête or festival, on one page every helper can open.