High Schools

The Timetabling Process:

1. Decide on the curriculum structure – see Curriculum Continuum. Determine major constraints – sports afternoons, part time staff, etc. Develop an overall PLAN for your school, this plan can often solve many problems at the start - see some example plans.

2a. Timetable construction - phase 1: Collect student elective preferences – decide how many elective classes to run and then create the Elective lines. Usually senior year elective lines are created first - elective lines are the foundation of the timetable.

2b. Timetable construction - phase 2: Decide how many core classes to run, then, determine the staff that must teach particular classes. Try to use a set of teachers rather than one specific teacher, this will give more flexibility. A number of programs now have an AUTO STAFF function, based on teacher sets, to automatically assign staff to classes - see DATA ENTRY.

2c. Timetable construction - phase 3: Determine the specific rooms that some classes must use, e.g. Art, Physics room, etc. Try to use a set of rooms rather than a specific room; once again this will give flexibility - see DATA ENTRY.

2d. Timetable construction - phase 4: Schedule the elective lines and core groups with staff and rooms, in such a way that there are no teacher or room clashes; this is the HARD part!!

2e.Timetable construction - phase 5: Improve timetable quality: Whilst you may have a clash free timetable you will need to improve its quality - doubles versus singles, morning versus afternoon classes, spread of a class over a week or 10 days, etc. Note: Your PLAN may minimize some spread issues.

3. Set up daily teacher absences replacements - Daily Organisation.

4. Create Yard Duty Roster.

5. Export relevant information to assessment, period attendance and administration software.

6. Create Exam Schedules