Sailing school staff scheduling spreadsheet template
4 min read · Updated 6 October 2026 · Written for Principals, Chief Instructors and centre managers
The short answer
Download our free template below. It has a weekly rota that works out instructors needed from the ratio and flags sessions that are short of instructors, an availability grid with free, maybe and busy, and a staff tracker that turns licences amber before they expire and red when they have. It opens in Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets.
What's in it
- Week rota: one row per session with students, ratio, instructors needed, the staff you've rostered and a check for short staffing.
- Availability: a grid of staff against morning, afternoon and evening for the week, with a drop-down of free, maybe and busy.
- Staff & licences: instructor type, first aid, safeguarding, vetting and powerboat or safety boat licence expiry dates, with amber for anything due within 60 days and red for expired.
How to use it
- Fill in Staff & licences first, with your team and their expiry dates.
- Each week, ask everyone for availability and fill in the grid.
- Add the week's sessions to the rota with students booked and the ratio from your operating procedures.
- Fill the senior and safety-boat columns first, then instructors and assistants.
- Fix anything the check columns flag before you share the rota.
Where a spreadsheet runs out
A good spreadsheet will carry a small school a long way. Its limits show when the team grows: it can't stop you putting someone with an expired licence on a session, it doesn't know when someone changes their availability, the same person can end up in two places, and the copy on the noticeboard drifts from the one on the laptop.
Tip: Keep one master copy and share a view-only link, rather than emailing versions around.