Timetable configuration

This guide covers the configuration of new or existing timetable structures in MySchool. This function is for Administrators to set up the structure of their MySchool schedules. It is part of the initial set up phase. If changes need to be made during a scholastic year, contact our support team for assistance. Applying Teachers and students to a schedule is explained in detail in a separate article. 

How to access

Go to the Administer menu header, and open the Advanced Options.

Look for the Administer Timetable, it should be the top of the list by default. Click to open the timetable configuration window.

Creating timetables

Schools with different class levels may need to have different length of days, breaks, and may even not have a full week scheduled. Our timetable administration tool takes you through each step to configure this, according to your schools needs.

The default configuration has Monday - Friday, 8h00 - 16h00, with each hour being a lesson with a roll call. No breaks are included. Ideally you would start with your school groups that have the same day set up, and work from there. Open the Create new timetable configuration.

The following window appears, note there are mandatory fields to complete, which MySchool will prompt you to fill, if they are omitted.

1. Name

Give a distinctive name to the timetable (Kinder 1, Sixth Form etc).

2. Day Configuration

If your student schedule is repeated on a weekly cycle, with no alternative times or rotating days etc, select the default option Regular Week. This will create a Monday to Sunday day list, and will not require any manual day mapping.

If your school uses a rotation based schedule rather than a repeating weekly timetable, you will need to create the days. Then, using the day mapping feature, assign them to the calendar day to create your cycle. Follow the steps at the bottom of the article for help. 

3. Period configuration

This feature allows you to configure your periods, set their respective times, and set period specific criteria. You can either edit the default or an existing timetable or create a new one from the drop down list.

4. Apply configuration to

If you have imported historical data into MySchool then you can apply the timetable to this year. It can also used to set up the rollover for a new year if you have changes in the time table. 

Configuring the Periods

Once you have created the timetable, the next step is to configure the periods in this timetable. Either edit or create new opens the following screen. 

1. Periods

The timetable can have alternative configurations, by default the period view is shown. Clicking on Alt 1,2,3, will bring up a the default period names and times, which can be edited accordingly. (e.g. Change between Summer and winter timetables).

2. Name

Give a clear name to the period (e.g. Normal period 1,2,3 or morning/afternoon for non-course year groups). 

If there are double periods then split these into hour groups, you can schedule a course over both periods in the Course configuration stage.

3. Start - End

Enter the start and end time for the period. Breaks or recesses have to be entered as a period.

4. Qualifiers

Is roll call is for when the lesson needs an attendance count.

These periods can be selected in the advanced options for the administrative update function. If you would like these to ONLY appear in the Take function then please contact our support team to modify your schools configuration.

Is lesson to have a course attached to the period

Is break noted as a pause and does not need a course.

5. Calculation Weight

An optional field used if you wish to add weights to certain courses for reporting. It does not affect course weights for grades.

6. Add period

Add a new period creates a new empty line in the day. Use the red X to delete if needed.

Once you have set up the structure of the day, press Save and you will be returned to the initial set up screen. 

If you wish to modify an existing timetable by adding or changing periods and length, then please create a new one. Modifying existing timetables or timetables that have been applied to historic data is not advised.

Custom day configurations

MySchool lets administrators configure shorter timetables or a non regular week set up. Create a new day in the Day configuration drop down list in the Creating timetable configuration page.

Give the day configuration a name, and Add days as required. Give them a name as appropriate to your internal naming policy. Once completed use the Create button to add this to the day configuration list. return to the previous screen and find the new day configuration and Edit this feature to map them to calendar days. 

Alternating short days

Some schools have an alternating calendar with different period set ups per day and per week. In order to show this in the timetable, you have to create the additional days in the Day configuration screen. Start by creating a timetable, and go into Day configuration.

If you wish you can just create Day 1, which will be the normal full day, and Day 2 which would be the short half day. In the example above we have followed the days of the week, and added 2 Wednesdays. Both days will appear on the timetable tab in the course view when scheduling courses. First we need to map the days, open the Day mapping tab.

You have to map the normal days, and then map your shortened Wednesday 2 to every alternating Wednesday. This will appear as a normal calendar day to students, guardians, and Teachers.

Day mapping

Click on Day mapping tab in the day configuration screen to bring up the following screen.

Choose the calendar months where the different timetable will be applied. Apply the new days to the date, then apply a period configuration to these days. When using the ALT timetables, you cannot alter the number of the periods, only the length of the periods.

Once complete, press Update on the bottom right hand side of the screen.

Applying configuration to specific class levels

This feature allows you to select which grades/classes use the timetable table configuration, and apply it to this year or future/previous years if they have been entered into the MySchool system.

On the Timetable configuration screen, select the scholastic year as shown in point 4 above. If classes have been attributed then they will appear in this view, and they will have a tick box next to their title. Select the classes that are to be assigned to the timetable configuration opened.

If the class is grey, and you cannot select the tick box, then these classes are attributed to another timetable configuration. First go to the timetable they have been attributed to, and deselect them from this, before reapplying them elsewhere.