Recording Supply Cover and Leavers for the SWAC

This guide explains how to record Supply Cover and Costs and SWAC Leavers for the Supply and Retention modules of the Welsh School Workforce Annual Census (SWAC) return in Arbor. These are Historical modules, covering the previous academic year (1 September 2024 to 31 August 2025).

Permissions

To use the Supply Cover and Cost page, you need one of the following permissions:

• School: Data Returns: Administer    
• Staff Profile: Cover: Administer

To use the SWAC Leavers page, you need one of the following permissions: 

• School: Data Returns: Administer    
• Staff Profile: All Staff: Contract Management

If you don't have the relevant permission, ask your admin team to give you permission using these instructions.
 

Supply Cover and Costs (Supply Module)

The Supply module requires an aggregated list of supply days and associated costs. Arbor aggregates the individual records you enter by Category, Planned, and Type, meaning that if you make multiple entries with the same combination of category, planned and type, these get added together into a single record in the return output.

Accessing Supply Cover and Costs

Navigate to School > All Staff > Cover > Supply Cover and Costs. Edit an existing record by:

• Clicking on the record
• Clicking Edit
• Making your changes
• Clicking Save Changes to confirm or Delete to remove the record fully

Recording Supply Cover

Please don't create entries that span two academic years; if a record spans multiple years, make two records, one covering the first academic year and the other the second. All fields are mandatory for the Census.

Note: Do not include 'direct employed supply' individuals who are on a contract of a year or more, as they will be included in the main Census return.

To create a new entry:

1. Click the +Add 
2. Enter the required details:
   • Date: The date the supply occurred.
   • Category: The role type of the supply staff (e.g., Qualified Teacher, Higher Level Teaching Assistant, or Teaching Assistant).
   • Planned?: Select Planned (reason known and planned in advance, e.g., parental leave) or Unplanned (short-term sickness or emergency cover).
   • Type: Select Short term (up to 12 weeks, commissioned directly from agencies) or Long term (paid via the school or LA payroll, usually for planned absences).
   • Number of Days (whole number).
   • Cost (monetary amount).

SWAC Leavers (Retention Module)

The Retention module collects data on staff members with a teaching or teaching assistant-type role who left during the previous academic year.

Accessing SWAC Leavers

Navigate to School > All Staff > SWAC Leavers. Edit an existing record by:

• Clicking on the record
• Clicking Edit
• Making your changes
• Clicking Save Changes to confirm or Delete to remove the record fully
  
  

Recording Staff Leavers

Leaver records are automatically generated when you use "End staff employment" for appropriate roles (Classroom Teachers, Teaching Assistants, and Additional Learning Needs Support Staff). You can also edit a record by clicking on it or create an ad-hoc record here using +Add if needed.

Important: Creating an ad-hoc Leaver record will not trigger any additional employment actions in Arbor and should not be used as a replacement for the proper "End Staff Employment" process.

The Leaver record includes basic job role and year/subject taught-type information, but not personal details like name. Data that is included is:

• Years Teaching Experience: This is the approximate number of years since achieving Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), not just at the current school. It's not required for Teaching Assistants.
• Subject/Curriculum Grade: Select the appropriate Subject and Curriculum grade. Use "Not applicable" for Nursery/Primary/Special/PRU schools or for non-teaching roles (Subject), and "National Curriculum not Followed" for non-relevant roles (Curriculum Grade).
• Destination: Records where the staff member went after leaving (e.g., employed in a teaching role at another school).
• Last day of employment

Note: If you are creating an Ad-Hoc leaver record, please make sure you select the right staff member immediately. The staff member linked to a leaver record cannot be changed. A record assigned to the incorrect staff member will need to be deleted and re-added with the correct staff member.