timetable development lesson 1 define timetable · pdf filetimetable development lesson 1 ....

Timetable Development Define Timetable Structure

Lesson 1

CREATE A NEW TIMETABLE DEVELOPMENT FILE ................................................................................... 2

DEFINE THE TIMETABLE STRUCTURE USING PARAMETERS .................................................................... 4

SPECIFY DAY NAMES AND PERIODS PER DAY ..................................................................................... 5

SPECIFY PERIOD NAMES AND CODES ................................................................................................. 7

REVISE PERIOD LOADS ...................................................................................................................... 10

DEFINE DOUBLE PERIODS ................................................................................................................. 11

ALLOCATION SPREAD AND PERIOD CONSTRAINTS ........................................................................... 12

ENTER YEAR LEVELS .............................................................................................................................. 13

ENTER ROLL CLASSES AND ASSIGN YEAR LEVELS .................................................................................. 15

ENTER FACULTIES .................................................................................................................................. 16

ENTER FACULTY GROUPS ...................................................................................................................... 18

SAVE AND BACKUP ................................................................................................................................ 21

Timetable Development Lesson 1

LESSON 1 DEFINE TIMETABLE STRUCTURE

CREATE A NEW TIMETABLE DEVELOPMENT FILE

Click New File…

To open the Timetable Development Module click the Timetable Development Module tab

at the top of the screen or click the Timetable Development Module link.

Timetabling Solutions Version 9 of 22


The program defaults to the Project Folder set in Configure.

Type the name of the new file: “Timetable Semester 1”

Click Save

Click OK

Note: The new file opens automatically and the name is displayed both on the Home Page and at the top of the screen.



DEFINE THE TIMETABLE STRUCTURE USING PARAMETERS

The basic structure of the timetable is defined in Parameters. In this example, the school will have all classes on a single site and the maximum load for a standard full time teacher will be 24.00.

The Proposed full time teacher load (default) is the load a full time teacher in the school can take. This can be entered

to two decimal points.

Schools requiring teacher loads in minutes are able

to use this to create selected

reports.

Some schools have a combined timetable for multiple campuses. The

Number of sites defines the number of campuses that are to be included in the one file

Click [1] Parameters…

Up to three school-defined teacher fields can be added to the timetable data.

The Class suffix – default number of characters defines the number of

characters at the end of a code that will be used in the automatic creation of

subject codes and names. For example if a class has a code 12ENGA and the

default number was set to 1, the A is the class suffix that defines this particular class and 12ENG is the subject code.



SPECIFY DAY NAMES AND PERIODS PER DAY

In this example, the timetable will consist of 5 days and 7 periods per day (6 academic, teaching periods plus Homeroom) and the day names and codes will reflect the days of the week.

On the Task Tree select: [1B] Day Names and Periods per Day

Click on Day 1 in the Day Name column and type “Monday”

then press Enter

Change the Proposed full time teacher load (default) to 24.00

Single click in the top cell next to Teacher Spare Field 1 and type

“Staff Room”

In the pop-up window, type “5”

Click OK

Leave the Number of sites as 1 and the Class suffix – default

number of characters as 1

Click Save



Repeat this process to change the Day Name and Code for all days as shown

Type “7” and click OK

Note: All days now have 7 periods.

Click Save

In the Code column type “Mon”

Click Edit Periods/Day for All Days



SPECIFY PERIOD NAMES AND CODES

In this section, Period Names and Codes need to be edited.

On the Task Tree select: [1C] Period Details

Click on Period 1 in the first column next to Monday, type “Homeroom” and press Enter

Note: Homeroom has now been entered in the first cell and the next

cell is ready for editing.

This screen allows the entry of a range of different period details. Information can be entered

directly into each individual cell in the table.



Repeat the process to change the period names for Monday to Period

1, Period 2, Period 3, Period 4, Period 5 and Period 6 as shown.

Click Replicate First Day All Periods

Click on 1 in the first column next to Monday, type “HR”

and press Enter

Note: All cells have now been changed to reflect the information

displayed for the first day.

Select Period codes



Note: “HR” has now been entered in the first cell and the

next cell is ready for editing.

Repeat the process to change the period names for Monday

to 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 as shown.


Note: All cells have now been changed to reflect the information

displayed for the first day.



REVISE PERIOD LOADS

As a default, all periods have a weighting of 1.00. However, the load weighting of any period can be changed. This period loading can assist in the timetable construction process and will be reflected in a staff member’s overall allotment and in the Daily Organiser Module. Note: Loads can be entered up to 2 decimal places.

Note: All periods have a default load of 1.00.

In this example, Homeroom is to have a loading of 0.20

Click in the HR column next to Monday and type 0.20

Select Period Loads

Click on Replicate First Day All Periods



DEFINE DOUBLE PERIODS

The Doubles screen is used to define when double lessons can occur in the timetable.

In some schools, double lessons can occur over a break while in others double lessons must not occur over breaks. Other schools do not allow double lessons after the lunch break.

In this example, the day structure of the school will be Homeroom, Period 1, Period 2, Recess, Period 3, Period 4, Lunch, Period 5 and Period 6. Recess and lunch will not appear on the timetable, but doubles cannot occur over these breaks but are allowed any other time during the day. Therefore, doubles can only occur Period 1-2, Period 3-4 and Period 5-6.

Note: The loading for the first period of each day is 0.20.

Click Save

To define when a double can occur, click in the appropriate cell.

Click in the cell next to Monday in Periods 1-2

Select Doubles



ALLOCATION SPREAD AND PERIOD CONSTRAINTS

The Allocation Spread Constraints affect the spread of classes over the cycle.

On the Task Tree select: [1D] Allocation Spread Constraints

Make sure Optimise allocation spread between days is set to Yes.

To change this field click in the relevant cell and select Yes or No from the drop down list.

Note: All possible double lesson times have been defined.

Click Save

Click on Monday 3-4 and 5-6




The Allocation Period Constraints affect the allocation classes to teachers within a day.

On the Task Tree select: [1E] Allocation Period Constraints

ENTER YEAR LEVELS

Within a single Timetable file there may be a number of different year levels. Year levels can be used:

• As a filter to view and print out timetables for specific groups of students. • To attach to the front of the subject code for export if the timetable is linked with various

assessment packages.

All year levels used in attached Student Options files must also be entered within the Timetable Development file.

On the Task Tree select: [2A] Year Level Codes

Click Add Year Levels

The Period Constraints for Selected Teachers affects the number of periods a day a teacher must have free and/or the number of consecutive periods they can be allocated in a day.



Note: The Year Levels have now been entered.

Click Save

Type “11”, then click Record and Next

Repeat this process to enter Year Levels 10, 9, 8 and 7.

Click Record and Close when final year level has been entered.

Type “12” then click Record and Next

Note: The default setting for adding new data is to add the data

immediately after the position of the cursor. This data entry position

can be changed as required.



ENTER ROLL CLASSES AND ASSIGN YEAR LEVELS

A roll class is a concept that allows for the simplification of the timetable construction process. The roll classes that are used will depend on the curriculum structure of the school. In this example the students in Yr12 are in one roll class, the students in Yr11 are in one roll class and the students in Yr10 are in four different roll classes. The reason the curriculum is set up this way is that in this example, the Yr11 and Yr12 curriculum is fully blocked across each year level, whereas the Yr10 curriculum contains a mixture of core and blocked classes.

All roll classes used in attached Student Options files must also be entered in the Timetable Development file.

On the Task Tree select: [2B] Roll Class Names

Click Add Roll Classes

Type 12 as the Code and press Enter, note the Name

defaults to the value entered in the Roll Class Code field,

press Enter

Click on the drop down arrow for Year Level and select 12.

Click Record and Next

Note: The Roll Class Code and Name are usually the

same. However, for exporting to other programs, there is

sometimes a need to have different information in

these two fields.



ENTER FACULTIES

A Faculty is defined as a group of classes that are able to be taken by a group of teachers. A class can belong to only one faculty, whereas a teacher can belong to more than one faculty. The faculties entered by a school depends on the school’s requirements - one school may have a Mathematics/Science faculty while another school may have separate faculties for Mathematics and Science, yet another school may subdivide further with faculties in Advanced Mathematics, General Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics, Biology and General Science.

Faculties can be used for generating a variety of reports such as faculty loads and faculty timetables. They can also be used when constructing the timetable. Although it is possible to construct a timetable without using faculties, they can provide valuable assistance in the timetabling process. It is important to note that the Auto staffing function cannot be used without the use of faculties.

On the Task Tree select: [3A] Faculty Names

Repeat this process to add one roll class at Yr11 and four roll classes for Yr10 –

10A, 10B, 10C and 10D as shown.

Click Record and Close when final roll class has been entered.

Note: The Allotments column shows how many periods have been assigned to each

roll class in Class Information. As no classes have been entered yet this is 0.

Click Save



Note: A Load Limit (the maximum load a teacher can take in a faculty) can be set for each of the faculties. The load limit and faculty codes are used with Auto Staffing.

Click Add Faculties

Repeat this process to add the faculties English, Science, Health & PE, Part Time - Days Off and

Part Time - No Days Off as shown.

(Click Record and Close when the final faculty has been entered)

Click Save

Type the Name “Mathematics”, Type the Code “MAT” Click Record and Next



ENTER FACULTY GROUPS

A Faculty Group is an organisational tool that is designed to create a single inclusive listing from different individual faculties. As the name implies, it is a grouping of multiple faculties that will generate a single combined list of teachers or classes.

If a school entered individual faculties called Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, General Science and Junior Science, a faculty group could be created that would encompass all of these, (perhaps called “Science”) creating a single listing of teachers and classes that teach within these sciences regardless of which faculty or faculties that they had been assigned to.

In this example, the subject-based faculties of Mathematics, English, Science and Physical Education have already been entered. In addition, two faculties were set up to assist with managing the part time staff – one faculty for teachers requiring days off and another for part time staff not requiring days off.

Faculty groups will be set up to create a single grouping combining the Mathematics and Science faculties, and another to list all part time teachers in a single grouping.

On the Task Tree select: [3B] Faculty Groups

Click Add Faculty Groups

Click Select Faculties



Type the Name “Maths/Science”, Type the Code “MAT.SCI”

Click Record and Next

Click Select Faculties

Use to move the Mathematics and

Science faculties into the Selected Box

Click OK



Use to move the two Part time faculties into the Selected Box

as shown

Click OK

Note: It is not necessary to assign all faculties to Faculty Groups.

Click Save

Type the Name “Part Time”, Type the Code “Part Time”

Click Record and Close



SAVE AND BACKUP

Backup files can be created at any time and we recommend that files are backed up on a regular basis. There are two types of backup files:

• Auto backup files which are created each time a file is saved (after the data has changed). There are 2 auto backup files which are overwritten each time the file is saved.

• Manual backup files which can be generated by clicking the Save and Backup button on the Home Page. These are not overwritten.

On the Task Tree select:

Timetable Development Module

Click Save and Backup

The program defaults to the Backup folder set in Configure.

Note: There are 2 auto backup files: “Auto Backup – Latest” file was created the last time save was clicked

“Auto Backup – Previous” was created the previous time save was clicked

Both these files will be overwritten the next time save is clicked.



The program has created a default name for the manual backup file. This can be changed

by typing over the name.

Type “Lesson 1” and click Save

Note: Version 9 automatically adds the .tdf9 to the end of a timetable development file name.

Click OK

Note: The name of the latest manual backup file created this session is

displayed on the Home Page.


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