How to build a sailing school staff rota
7 min read · Updated 6 October 2026 · Written for Principals, Chief Instructors and centre managers
The short answer
List the week's sessions, work out what each one needs (instructors from the ratio and a supervising Senior Instructor), collect availability, then fill the senior roles first, instructors next and assistants last. Check qualifications, clashes and young workers' hours, keep someone spare on the busiest day, then publish on a fixed day and get everyone to confirm.
Step by step
- List every session for the week: course, date, morning, afternoon or evening, and students booked.
- Work out what each session needs: instructors from the ratio (the instructors drive the safety boats), any Senior Instructor supervision, and assistants.
- Collect availability by a deadline, with silence counted as busy.
- Fill the hardest roles first: Senior Instructors and specialist instructors (powerboat, keelboat, windsurf) are usually the scarcest.
- Then instructors, matching each one's qualifications to the course.
- Then assistants, remembering any supervision rules that apply to them.
- Check for clashes: the same person or the same boat in two places at once.
- Check hours: young workers have legal limits on hours and breaks, and everyone needs rest.
- Keep a spare on your busiest day, or know who you'll call.
- Publish on the same day each week and ask everyone to confirm their sessions.
Choose a view that fits how you think
Some people build by session (who's on each course?), others by person (what's each instructor doing this week?). The best rotas are checked both ways: by session to make sure nothing is short, by person to make sure nobody is double-booked or overworked.
After you publish
- Track who has confirmed and chase the rest before the week starts.
- When something changes, tell the people affected, not the whole team.
- Print a day sheet for the duty officer, with emergency contacts for the people on duty.
- Keep a record of changes and why they were made.
Tip: If the same pattern repeats every week of the summer, build it once and copy it forward, then adjust for leave and bookings.