Part 3. Modules

3.11 Staff

Version 1.0 ·Updated 2026-10-07

Next reviewed by 2027-04-07.

Written for a school's staff learning how Kestrel works, the trainers who teach them, and the families using the portal.

Who is on staff, the checks and registrations the school requires of them, when each one lapses, and how an HRIS export brings the staff in.

Written forRegistrarFront officePrincipal and executiveBusiness manager

What it is for

Staff is the school's compliance register for its adults. It lists who is on staff today, the position and campus recorded for each, and whether each check the school requires, such as a working with children check or a teacher registration, is current, expired or missing.

Kestrel keeps the compliance record and no more. It contains an employment record that mirrors what the HRIS says about a job, and the checks a person holds. It does not run payroll, rosters of pay or a human resources file, and it does not keep an image of a card or certificate. The school's HRIS stays the system of record for employment.

Who uses it

Role	What they can do
Front office, principal	Read the staff list, read check numbers, and record that they looked up a check on the state register.
Business manager	Everything the front office does, record employment, and run the HRIS import.
Registrar	Read the staff list and record employment.
Teacher, head of house, wellbeing, counsellor, learning support, child safety officer, nurse, IT	Read the staff list: who is on staff and whether each required check is current.

In plain words, the capabilities are: reading the staff record (staff.record.read), recording employment (staff.record.write), running the HRIS import (staff.record.import), reading check numbers (staff.check.read) and recording a verification (staff.check.write).

Key ideas

Employment: A dated record of a position: the position, the campus, and whether the person is an Employee or a Casual. A person is on staff while they have an open employment record.
Kind of check: A check or registration the school requires, such as a working with children check, a teacher registration or first aid. The school sets which kinds exist and who each is required of.
Check state: Current, Expired, Interim, Barred or None recorded. A required check that is missing or expired shows beside the person's name.
Verification: A record that someone looked up the check on the state register, with what the register said: Cleared, Interim or Barred.
Required of: Who a kind of check applies to: Staff, Volunteers, Contractors, Prac students, or anyone who teaches.
Compliance register: The staff list asked about one kind of check: who holds it, and who lacks it, with those lacking first.
HRIS export: A file the school's HR system produces. Kestrel reads it and never fetches it, so the school uploads it or posts it to the API.

Screens

Staff
/app/staff
Each person on staff today, with their position, campus and the state of each required check. Choose a kind of check to read it as a compliance register: who lacks it first, then who holds it.
Needs staff.record.read
A staff member's checks
/app/staff/[personId]
One person's current checks, their check history, their employment records, and the form to record a check.
Needs staff.record.read
HRIS export
/app/imports/hris
The mappings the school keeps, the import runs and the problems still to resolve. Each route needs administrator standing as well as the capability.
Needs staff.record.import
Staff and accreditation
/app/settings/staff
The kinds of check the school requires, who each is required of, the jurisdictions accepted and the warning period.

Record a check

Open Staff and find the person. A word beside a name marks a required check that is missing or has run out.
Open the person and choose "Record a check".
Choose the "Kind of check", the "Jurisdiction" and the "Number on the register".
Choose "What the register said", and add the "Level" for a teacher registration.
Fill "Issued", "Expires" and "Register checked", then choose "Record it".

The person's page keeps a check history. A check that is replaced is closed with its dates, so you can read each one from the day it was valid from, and which register it was checked against.

Employment and the compliance register

Where the HRIS does not supply employment, choose "Record employment" on the person's page. Give the position, the start day, the campus code (leave it empty for the whole school) and whether they are an Employee or a Casual. Choose "End" beside a record to end it from a day. If no other record is open, the person stops being staff from that day. The record stays on the page with its dates.

On the Staff list, choose a kind of check in the toolbar. The list then shows "Staff who lack it" and "Staff who hold it", with a count for each. The kind and the side are in the address, so you can send the link to a colleague. If everyone holds the check, the list says there is nothing to chase.

A check about to lapse also shows on the home page of a reader who can read the staff record and record a check. The panel "Checks about to lapse" lists each check or registration that lapses within thirty days, soonest first, and each line opens the adult's checks.

Import staff from the HRIS

An import creates the staff Kestrel cannot match, opens and closes their employment, and records the checks the file contains. It never fetches an export, so you upload one.

Open Reporting, then Data imports, then "HRIS export".
Under "HRIS export mappings", read an export, name the column that has each detail (employee number, family name, given names, date of birth, school email, position, campus, employee or casual, started, ended) and choose "Save the mapping".
Under "Run an import", choose the "Mapping" and the export file.
Choose "Show me what it would do" to read the plan. It records nothing.
Read the counts of rows, staff created, employment opened and closed, checks and problems, then choose "Run it".
Work down "Problems to resolve" and choose "Resolve" on each row the run could not decide.

A run returns a contradiction and never decides it. The problems are: a row with no employee number, a row whose name and date of birth match someone already here under a different number, an employee number that belongs to two staff members, a date that could not be read, and a person on staff whom the file did not include. A person absent from a file is never ended by it. A problem raised again by a later run appears once, and resolving it resolves the earlier copies too.

Tasks

Record a working with children check. Record a working with children check
Import staff from the HRIS and resolve the rows it could not decide. Import staff from the HRIS
Set which checks the school requires. Set which checks the school requires
Find who lacks a check and chase them.
Record or end a person's employment.

Journeys

Staff takes part in the first day, when the staff are imported from the HRIS and their checks are recorded. An activity or an excursion reads a working with children check when you add an adult.

Settings

In Settings, "Staff and accreditation" lists the kinds of check the school requires. Choose "Change" on a kind, or "Add a kind of check" to make a new one with a code, a name and who it is required of.

Setting	What it does
Required of	Staff, Volunteers, Contractors, Prac students or Anyone who teaches.
Jurisdictions accepted	The states or territories whose certificates the school accepts. Empty accepts any.
Warning period	How many days before a check expires the warning goes out. Kestrel uses 90 days where the school does not set one.
Who's told	The roles told with the person when the warning period opens and again inside fourteen days. Only a role that can see staff records is listed.

5.5 Module settings

Training notes

Who needs it: the front office, the principal and the business manager. The registrar needs the employment section.
Suggested length: thirty minutes, plus fifteen for the import.
Practise on the test school: record a check, read the register for it, then run a dry run of an import.