2. *To heighten awareness of the impact of the timetable
on student learning
*To examine the process of timetabling in relation to
curriculum and school values
*To introduce practical approaches to timetable design
and implementation
3.
4.
5.
6. *Subject choice/”Packaging of subjects”
*Effects of TT on behaviour
*Providing a holistic curriculum
*How we group our students
*Higher/Ordinary level decisions
7. Identify a common timetable
practice or configuration and
assess this from the perspective of
the student/learner experience
8. * Students who report restricted subject choice or who regret
taking certain subjects have significantly more negative
attitudes to school and their teachers
(ESRI/NCCA 2004)
* Access for students to a broad and balanced curriculum that
is sufficiently differentiated to take account of learners’
starting points, that motivates them, raises their self esteem
and gives them a sense of achievement
Task Force on Student Behaviour
9. While schools may believe that streaming enables them
to better meet the learning needs of particular students
the findings of this study show that students do not
benefit from the arrangement. Streaming has a polarising
effect on students.
One group, primarily those in top streams, is more
positive about school, gets on well with teachers,
becomes more engaged with learning and expects
success in the exams. It seems that they get a ‘better
deal’ all around.
www.ncca.ie/uploadedfiles/publications/ESRI_3rdYr.pdf
10. The other group, more frequently students in
lower stream classes, becomes progressively
more negative about school, ‘acts up’, gets given
out to more by teachers and is drifting or
disengaged.
What appears to be happening is that students
reach the level of achievement, or rather
underachievement that is expected of them.
www.ncca.ie/uploadedfiles/publications/ESRI_3rdYr.pdf
11. Research tells us that students who risk
disaffection at school respond best to a
curriculum that is holistic, that actively engages
them, that is responsive to their needs,
interests and learning styles, that combines
integrated academic, social skills, and
vocational education with career development
and work-based learning
12. *What role do you currently play in designing the
timetable?
*Who is involved in planning and preparing the
timetable?
*What are identified as the greatest constraints
or pressures when planning the timetable?
15. *What are the most pressing
timetable issues for you at present?
16. Sample Curriculum A
Core Subjects
Optional Subjects: one from each line
Irish
4
English
4
Mathematics
4
History
3
Geography
3
Religious Education
2
Home Ec.
CSPE
1
SPHE
1
Physical Education
2
Science
4
French
4
Music
Business
Home Ec
Art
Art
German
Business
What are the issues and values
evident in this sample curriculum?
What are the implications for student
learning?
17. Sample Curriculum B
Core Subjects
Optional Subjects: one from each line
Irish
5
English
5
History
3
Geography
3
Religious Education
1
Physical Education
1
French or German
4
Music
4
MTW
Technical
Graphics
Business
Science
Art
Metalwork
Business
Business
3
CSPE
Art
5
Mathematics
Home Ec.
What are the issues and values
evident in this sample curriculum?
What are the implications for student
learning?
23. * Core
* Modules
* Items that need to be fixed
* Options?
Transition Year can be complex and some items may need to
be placed and fixed on certain days
24. Keep core of time table from this year.
Clear timetable but keep structure for:
2nd
* 1st
3rd & 5th
6th
* 2nd
* All these year groups are moving up a year and will mirror closely
what existed in this current year i.e. class/teacher/opt group etc.
25. * Allocating extra teachers to bands ie. Maths, Irish and English
* Science –max 24 in class –what are implications for you ?
* Home Economics: Max of 20 students
* Options
* Job sharing
* Study leave/Secondment/partial secondment
* Other requests
* Subject Requests
* Teacher Requests
26. ...The managerial authorities are urged to consider
favourably applications for the scheme.
....In developing a policy the welfare and educational needs of
the pupils will take precedence over all other considerations.
The managerial authorities should consider other factors
such as the number of approvals in any school year and the
arrangements available for the teaching of classes.
27. *Spending time doing this slowly and accurately will save
time later trying to solve problems that could have been
avoided.
*Senior Leadership Team (Principal and Deputy Principal) are
central to the timetabling process.
28.
29. If using Scheduler...........
1.Need to do end of year Procedure
2.Need to make sure many of the admin decisions are made
i.e. no. of classes, teachers etc.
3.Create dummy classes
4.Make a number of new teachers. i.e. NT1, NT2 etc
5.Key changes cannot be made once TT exported and you are
working on it.
30.
31. * 28 hours class contact
* Special needs hours: Resource hours must be allocated to
student
* Learning support can be used within timetable but should
benefit appropriate students
* Total teacher allocation – keep a constant eye on this
* Shared teachers or job-sharing staff
32. * All planning and inputting done
* Check feasibility– 100%
* Ensure specialist rooms allocated.
*
*
*
*
*
Follow CCM/Serco
instructions
Run time table without restrictions
Need to keep an eye on spread of classes throughout
timetable.
Doubles
Spread of core throughout week
Spread of options
33. * When satisfied you have a timetable –
* Save
* Re run with restrictions
* Make adjustments if you have to
or
Revert to first TT if deemed better
34. * Specialist Rooms should be done with scheduling
* Allocating remaining rooms can be a tedious process but care
taken here can save a lot of time at beginning of year.
35. * Getting the Pre-Planning correct is vital
* Running timetable will take a few days of intense work.
* You may need to run a few versions to get best outcome
* If using scheduler you need to import it back into admin
system. This can be done a number of times but be careful
naming your version you want to keep!!
* Leave plenty of time at end to allocate rooms and make
printouts – Not night before school opens!!
* Always label Timetable “Draft” for first few weeks
36. * Does the timetable represent the educational philosophy of the
school?
* Are subjects satisfactorily distributed through the timetable cycle?
* Are subjects treated fairly, by all having a fair distribution of
lessons throughout the day?
* Are specialist rooms and other resources used to the best
advantage?
* Is gender equity observed?
* Has movement been kept to a minimum?
37. *Is the staff non-teaching time reasonably spread?
*Does the timetable facilitate curriculum continuity for
the following year – and the year after?
*Is the timetable presented as simply as possible?
*Are class timetables balanced and do all classes have a
fair share of experienced staff?
39. * School Matters:The Report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour in
* Second Level Schools 2006 Department of Education and Science
* Do Schools Differ? Academic and Personal Development among Pupils in the SecondLevel Sector
Smyth, Emer 1999
* Moving Up. The Experiences of First-Year Students in Post-Primary Education 2004
Smyth, Emer / McCoy, Selina / Darmody, Merike
Liffey Press in association with the ESRI
* Pathways through the Junior Cycle: the Experience of Second Year Students 2006
Smyth, Emer / Dunne, Allison / McCoy, Selina / Darmody Merike
The Liffey Press in association with the ESRI
Editor's Notes
All schools have a mission statement or vision that sets out what it is that they hope to achieve.
Typically, these statements include, or imply, a desire to ensure that all students achieve to the highest standards, academically and personally.
It is through the school’s curriculum (including the extra-curricular and/or co-curricular) that provide the framework within which the school’s objective are achieved.
The timetable is a very obvious and important manifestation of the school curriculum.
Therefore it is inextricably linked to the moral purpose of the school: what it is that the school is trying to achieve.
We are all very well aware of circumstances where what we would like to achieve is very different from what we are achieving at present.
As school leaders, we need to be concerned where our timetable promotes practices or attitudes that re inconsistent with the moral purpose of the school.
The objective is not to have you return to you schools on Monday and abandon your present timetable.
Rather, the aim is to increase awareness of the positive and negative impact that may arise from curriculum and timetabling decisions.
A related objective is to provide an introduction to techniques that will provide a foundation for timetable preparation for next year.
Our greatest concern with presenting a module of this type is the expectations that participants may have.
We know that the timetable is something that weighs very heavily on the minds of newly-appointed deputy principals.
The bad news is that in years to come, it will still weigh heavily.
It may be the case that there are very specific concerns relating to your own timetables:
How do I provide the best combination of subject blocks for Leaving Certificate?
What model do I use to allow students to sample subjects in first year?
How do I turn on the computer?
So we adopt the view that, while the preparation of the timetable is typically regarded as being a practical or technical problem – of fitting combinations of students, teachers, subjects, and room into a matrix representing the school week -- the perspective that we would like to discuss with you is the fundamental impact that timetabling has on student learning and behaviour, as well as what the timetable says about the values and objectives in your school.
To do this, we will introduce you to some of the key planning tools and approaches required in timetabling. We know that there is a range of intensive training for the computer packages provided by Facility/Serco that we will to be able to replicate here.
There are two sessions on timetabling: The first session focuses on the rationale for the school timetable and the impact that the timetable has on school organisation.
Session One also looks at how the nature of the school timetable can be influences by a host of internal and external factors. A key focus for the session is to explore how the school timetable impact upon student learning and student experiences in school.
Session Two examines the process of constructing the timetable in greater detail. Participants are asked to reflect on their individual roles in timetable preparation. The use of templates to assist in essential data gathering is introduced. An introduction to calculating teacher allocation – with reference to DES templates – will also form part of Session Two.
The session concludes with guidance on using the Facility/Serco package and providing a checklist for effective timetabling.
The primary objective of the timetable is to support teaching and learning. Sometimes this consideration can be eclipsed in light of other pressures on the school.
The timetable is a clear representation of what is valued in the school. The timetable has a very powerful influence on student experiences within the school. Furthermore, the structure of the timetable gives a clearer picture of what is valued by the school than does – in many cases – reference to the school’s Mission Statement.
The pressure on the timetabling team to cater for increased expectations – at the level of the individual student, parent, or teacher; at the level of the school organisation (school objectives and mission statement, Board of Management, subject departments, etc.; at community level; and at national level – is very significant. Not only are schools to cater for the individual needs of learners, they must also address community and national interests. These expectations will increase in our current difficult circumstances.
The subjects available on the timetable, the manner in which they are made available to students, which teachers are allocated to particular subjects and groups of students, etc. are influenced by a host of internal and external factors
In any given year, the school’s timetable will reflect a particular context. Some of the influences comprising this context are:
Allocation: The teacher allocation, which will change on foot of rising/falling student numbers or following DES changes to the pupil/teacher ratios. (For example, changes to the LCVP ratio). (Calculating the school’s allocation will be looks at in more details in Session Two.)
Culture: All schools have a distinctive culture and a unique history. Together, they have a very powerful influence on the nature of the school’s timetable. They are also significant impediments to any proposed curriculum change.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats: The final consideration is a more general one: the school’s timetable may be a key element in trying to build on identified strengths in the school, or to address perceived weaknesses, opportunities, or threats. A simple example of an identified ‘weakness’ might arise from a WSE/MLL or subject inspection (28 hours not allocated; insufficient time allocated to certain subjects; etc.) An example of a perceived ‘threat’ being addressed through the timetable is where a school is in competition for student enrolments: ensuring that school timetables are comparable may be seen as a factor. As for ‘strengths’, schools frequently identify or regard themselves as ‘niche’ schools, with a well-established reputation for technology, science, music, or sport. And finally, revisiting the structure of the school timetable may represent an ‘opportunity’ to influence teaching methodologies, curriculum choice, and student experiences within the school.
Task for participants:
A number of reports issued in recent years emphasise the impact that the timetable/curriculum has of student behaviour, attitudes, and academic performance.
Ref: Moving Up. The Experiences of First-Year Students in Post-Primary Education 2004
Structures and Supports (Taken from the Task Force on Student Behaviour Interim Report July 2005 and the published document School Matters 2006) Effective strategies:
A range of structures in operation within a school, evaluated regularly
Access to a variety of school curricula and programmes that suit the learning needs and capabilities of a diverse cohort of students
Teaching methodologies that engage students and that provide them with success experiences
Early identification of difficulties with appropriate intervention
Access within the school to extra support - counselling, remedial, behavioural, pastoral, for those students who may need this support if they are to survive and succeed within the mainstream school system
Access to a variety of extracurricular activities
An attractive teaching and learning environment
A school that invests a lot of careful planning and time into smoothing the transition from primary to post primary, especially for children who are vulnerable or at risk of disaffection on entry into second level.
Other Reports:
Students who report restricted subject choice or who regret taking certain subjects have significantly more negative attitudes to school and their teachers”(ESRI/NCCA 2004)
Access for students to a broad and balanced curriculum that is sufficiently differentiated to take account of learners’ starting points, that motivates them, raises their self esteem and gives them a sense of achievementTask Force on Student Behaviour
A umber of reports issued in recent years emphasise the impact that the timetable/curriculum has of student behaviour, attitudes, and academic performance.
Ref: Moving Up. The Experiences of First-Year Students in Post-Primary Education 2004
Structures and Supports (Taken from the Task Force on Student Behaviour Interim Report July 2005 and the published document School Matters 2006) Effective strategies:
A range of structures in operation within a school, evaluated regularly
Access to a variety of school curricula and programmes that suit the learning needs and capabilities of a diverse cohort of students
Teaching methodologies that engage students and that provide them with success experiences
Early identification of difficulties with appropriate intervention
Access within the school to extra support - counselling, remedial, behavioural, pastoral, for those students who may need this support if they are to survive and succeed within the mainstream school system
Access to a variety of extracurricular activities
An attractive teaching and learning environment
A school that invests a lot of careful planning and time into smoothing the transition from primary to post primary, especially for children who are vulnerable or at risk of disaffection on entry into second level.
In terms of behaviour – much talked about, the Task Force placed significant emphasis on the organisation of the actual curriculum. Any discussion of behaviour cannot happen without a close examination of the timetable.
Ref: Pathways through the Junior Cycle: the Experience of Second Year Students 2006
The question of ability streaming is one that arises in a number of reports. It can also be the subject of intense debate at school level.
Terminology (Smith):
Streaming: involves the grouping of pupils of similar assessed ability into the same classes. These classes are ranked in terms of average pupil ability from ‘top’ to ‘bottom’ class.
Mixed ability: some form of random allocation process (such as alphabetical listing) is used, although some school specifically aim to produce a mix of ability by actively dispersing pupils of different levels of assessed ability between the various classes.
Banding: practiced by some larger schools and entails dividing pupils into broad ability bands. Each of these bands is then further sub-divided into classes on the basis of mixed ability, perhaps by way of random selection (p. 31)
Setting is not mentioned here, but is a prevalent practice in schools. This is putting pupils of similar ability together just for certain lessons. A typical example here is the setting of mathematics groupings.
The most common expression to be hear in timetabling is ‘blocks’, but the ‘blocking’ of mathematics , English and Irish, for example, is different from running MTW, Home Economics, Art, and Business Studies in another block.
Question:
Taking the two polar approaches (rigid grouping on the basis of academic assessment (streaming) and random allocation to class groups (mixed ability)) what educational objectives are they attempting to achieve? Do they demonstrate different educational philosophies? Are these approaches more appropriate in some scenarios that in others?
(We’ll have a quick look at what the reserch tells us in a moment)
Question: In the light of evidence, do we automatically change our view/opinion/practice?
Are we able to find situations unique to our school that nullify the weight of the research findings?
. Best Practice (Task Force, contd.)
Effective and visionary leadership from the principal, the deputy the staff, and the management personnel of the school with support from the local education authority or equivalent
Teachers who are skilled in a variety of teaching methodologies, who use differentiated approaches and who have expertise in positive behaviour management, with access to continuing professional development in these areas
A school wide policy that includes a framework of expectations, rules, rewards and sanctions that is consistently applied across the school
Access for students to a broad and balanced curriculum that is sufficiently differentiated to take account of learners’ starting points, that motivates them, raises their self esteem and gives them a sense of achievement
Access to a range of activities, cultural, sporting, and altruistic, in which all pupils can participate, that help to foster a distinctive school ethos and develop a sense of community and belonging
Schools and parents working constructively together and communicating in an open, and respectful manner
Access to a range of behavioural supports that help foster inclusion and integration
Provision on-site, or in some instances off-site, for a minority of students whose behaviour warrants support not ordinarily available in the mainstream
Facilitators Notes:
The column on the right represents some areas in which they might be involved – it can be shown before or after the discussion and, after the group discussion, issues arising from each heading can be discussed separately.
Allow time (5-10 minutes) for participants to share with the person next to them which of these they’re involved in and who else they work with, e.g. Principal on teacher allocation, learning support and resource teacher re special needs etc., full staff / Year Heads re grouping students …..
Elicit some of the following principles from the ensuing plenary discussion:-
Curriculum issues should be discussed by the whole staff – but technical decisions can be made alone
The Principal and Deputy have an overview of the school which other members of staff may not have – it may be important to share this information when decision are being taken
On the other hand, individual teachers have a depth of valuable experience – which they should be given the opportunity to share
When possible – take a critical look at what is being offered …. Times and needs change, just because it worked last year doesn’t mean it’s the best option for this year!
Consider the scenarios included on the hand-out: The Human Element”
This slide highlights the planning process involved in putting a timetable together.
Starting point:
Who is involved and what is involved? It takes into account the existing timetable and the changes required when reviewed by all key stakeholders. It involves promoting the timetable starting with what is already there and deciding what will be used in the new timetable. It probably means discarding TY, 3rd years and 6th years and setting up new 1st year and 5th year and TY blocks depending on options and numbers in classes etc…
While involved in the process, one must be mindful at all times of the following areas:
Curriculum demands, programmes offered TY, LCA, LCVP etc…
Teacher demands
Subject demands
The process takes account of any restrictions including:
Staffing allocation and pupil numbers
Number of periods in the week (28 hours tuition)
Number of specialist rooms – in a school with 2 MTW rooms, only 2 classes of MTW can be taught at the same time.
Number of subject specialists , only 1 German teacher = only one German class running at any one time .
Impact of number of Assistant Principals (Timetable to 18 hours in the C&C sector and in the VEC sector but do not receive compensatory hours from DES/ In Secondary sector more and more schools attempt to give some hours especially to Year Heads in recognition of work involved)
Deputy Principal teaching or non teaching?
Number of job sharers
Class sizes
Inherited arrangements – can be difficult to break/ review
In time it may cause you to ask these questions and justify your practices
Mixed Ability, Streaming, Banding, How this changes from first year through to 2nd/3rd and what happens in senior cycle?
Which subjects are core? Why?
Which programmes are offered? Why?
SEN allocation – how is this used?
New comers / Non nationals (DES) How are these catered for in terms of English language tuition?
Irish Exemptions – where do these students go during Irish time?
Hand out / Discussion
“Towards Timetabling” sheets to show how this process can include individuals and more importantly subject departments. Talk about the sharing of info and decisions -involving subject depts in decisions/planning process. Having the info in June when everyone else is away and you need someone who can teach CSPE and has been trained in same – see individual teacher sheets.
It is very important that the DP /P does not make any promises to any colleagues. Consider all requests in the interest of fairness but needs of students must be a priority. The next activity seeks to explore this idea further.
Hand Out / Discussion
“The Human Element”. Ask the participants to consider the requests. Some of the requests are intended to be amusing. Some the DP will have no control over and need to recognise this e.g. job share requests. However these will impact on the timetable. 5 minute discussion should suffice.
Schools use Facility timetabler/Scheduler/ GP-Untis/ White board
See most packages offer pre planner matrix
Feasibility of timetable check
Promote the Curriculum and create the new timetable
Input all information each year
Prioritising- Different schools differ in their approaches!!!!!
Some timetablers:
Give preference to exam years
Place all optional subjects (doubles) first
Follow with other doubles
Registration periods
TY /LCA triples
Place all items for each year group
Place all subjects with highest number of periods
See Facility/Serco training/inservice packages
Summarise last in-service. Quick re-cap
Depending on which TT package used will determine what is done here. Key point is not all work has to be redone from year to year. Good way of understanding rest of TT if
Handouts here and computer display. Take group manual method and then move over to see how computer will keep track of this simply.
Save Save Save . Continuously save as you go along. Make out clear system of versions etc.
Doing this may be a matter of preference. If restriction is an absolute necessity then setting up initial TT with it may be simplest way
A quick checklist in terms of questions. These should bring the participants back to the aims of the modules cognizant of the powerful role that timetabling and curriculum have on teaching and learning
A quick checklist in terms of questions. These should bring the participants back to the aims of the modules cognizant of the powerful role that timetabling and curriculum have on teaching and learning
