How to manage Blocks in Curriculum Plan

Blocks contain the information for the Period, the name of the Subject, the number of Classes, the Staff member, and the Room information. This is information that will eventually be added to the Timetable. This guide covers;

• Types of Blocks
• Add a Block
• Delete a Block
• Add Subjects to Blocks
• Blocks General
• Blocks Three Dots Menu
• Link Multiple Periods within a Block

The minimum permissions required to create a Timetable are found in the Timetable Module from Config > Setup > Roles and Permissions > Choose Role>Edit>Timetable > Timetable App.

Read further guidance on wTimetable here.

Go to Modules>wTimetable>Projects>Click on Project to see the Timetable panel with the tabs below. Click on Curriculum Plan.

Types of Blocks

Simple Blocks are made up of one Subject but can have multiple classes. When a subject is added to the Simple Block the Block name will update to the Subject name.

Linear Blocks are generally multiple subjects but could also be used with single subjects to allow flexibility for staffing. The difference between Linear and other blocks is that each class session can be added to the schedule manually instead of scheduling all classes for the selected period as a column of classes.

Options Blocks are multiple Subjects scheduled at the same time with the same Period Count.

Complex Blocks are created by either transforming an existing Block or creating directly in the Curriculum Plan.

• Each Class can have different Subjects if required and has flexibility to have free sessions included as part of the Block structure. These can be reorganised prior to Scheduling which follows Simple and Option Block rules where all Classes are added to a Period as a column. Complex Blocks are always ‘square’ 1×1, 2×2, 3×3 etc.
• Any unassigned sessions in the Block will be squared off with a Free session automatically.
• Note: Free sessions cannot be staffed or have a room assigned to them

Add a Block

Add a new Block by clicking on +Block, choose the Block type to create an empty Block.

Subjects can be dragged and dropped into these empty Blocks.

Delete a Block

Click on the three-dot menu and select Delete Block.

Choose Confirm when asked ‘Are you sure you want to delete the whole block? If you proceed all the block’s settings will be lost.‘

Add Subjects to Blocks

To Add Subjects to a Block simply drag and drop the Subject from the side panel.

To Add Subjects to Blocks that already have a scheduled Period.

• For Option Blocks: The new Subjects get the same scheduling information as the Subjects in the same Period.
• For Complex Blocks: If we add a Subject to a new Period, it will not get any scheduling information automatically. If we add a Subject to an existing Period, the added Subject and any Free sessions will get the same scheduling information as the Subjects in the same Periods.

To Delete Subjects from Blocks

• Left-click on a Subject in a Block.
• Choose Delete this subject.

Blocks General

Display Blocks is a multi-select drop down to filter by Block type. All the Block types are selected by default. The filter keeps the selected Blocks if the Year Group or Band is changed.

Display Subjects is a multi-select drop down to filter on Blocks that contain the chosen Subjects. All the Subjects are selected by default. The filter keeps the selected Subjects if the Year Group or Band is changed.

Blocks information:

• 1^st row:Badge (S, L, O, or C), Block Code (three characters unique across all Year Groups), three dot menu (see Blocks three dot menu), and expand icon (see Expanded Blocks).
• 2^nd row:Block Name (Block Type followed by Block Type count, 20 characters, unique per Band). If Subjects have been assigned to a Simple Block this will read Subject name.
• 3^rd row: Period.
• 4^th row: Subject code.
• 5^th row: Number of single and double sessions.
• 6^th row: Class number, Staff placeholder, and Room placeholder.

Blocks Three Dots Menu

• Copy Block – gives the option to copy the Block into one of the available Bands in that Year Group. Block Name will read Copy of Block ( Block Code) if copied into the same Band.
• Edit classcodes for the Block – see Settings > Class Name Definitions > Edit classcodes.
• Delete Block – user will be prompted to Confirm when asked‘Are you sure you want to delete the whole block? If you proceed all the block’s settings will be lost. ‘

• Transform Block: to alternative Block;
  • A Simple Block can be transformed to any other type of Block.
  • A Linear and Options Block can be transformed to a Complex Block. If more than one subject is included then each class in the complex block will display their own subject.

• Un-schedule Block – un-schedule all sessions in the Block in the Scheduling page.
• Spread to bands – allows the user to select which Bands the Block will be spread to and creates a Cross Band Block (a Block that spans more than one Band). The Block will be marked with a green X to show it is now a Cross Band Block

The Spread to bands option is disabled:

• If a Block is a Cross Band Block for all the Bands.
• If there is only 1 band in the year group.

• Split to Bands – This option is only for Cross Band Blocks. When choosing the Split to Bands option, a copy of the selected Block is created in all the Bands that were included in the cross-band. This action removes the cross band. If a Block is in only one band, the Split to bands option is disabled.
• Link Blocks – Link together unscheduled Blocks in different Bands in the same Year Group, or in any Band in other Year Groups – so that they can be scheduled together.  Does not work for Linear Blocks.

Drill down to find the Block you want to link to, click on the row, and click Link Blocks

Click the Create Link Button

• The Drag to match periods area displays all Periods in Block 1 at the top, and Periods in Block 2 at the bottom. If Block 2 has more Periods than Block 1, these will be displayed in the Drag excluded periods here area. 
• The Drag to match periods area also displays a Feedback box under each Period of Block 1. It can contain the following: Green tick: If the two Periods are matched correctly (singles with singles, doubles with 1 double covering both periods OR 2 singles). Red cross: If two double periods are not precisely overlapping, but only match up with one of their periods. Empty: When we do not add a period under the one in Block 1.

• Within Block 1 and 2 – Periods can be reorganised by dragging and dropping
• Once actioned, the linked sessions will be scheduled to the same Period when one is dragged into the Scheduling area. If either Periods are removed, the linked Period is removed as well.
• Linked Blocks are identified by the link icon on the Block area. Hover over to see the linked Blocks’ code and name

Unlink Blocks – Blocks are unlinked. Any already scheduled Periods remain scheduled

Link Multiple Periods within a Block

June 2025 Update ; A new feature now allows users to link multiple periods within a block, enabling selected sessions to be scheduled together—even across breaks and lunches.

Users can now select two or more periods within an expanded block and link them together using the new Link Period(s) option (accessible via right-click to select the periods and then left-click once to display the action).

Supported Block Types:

• Simple
• Linear
• Options

Linking Rules:

• Only unscheduled periods can be linked.
• Only consecutive periods (e.g., Period 2 and 3) can be linked.
• Periods already linked to others cannot be re-linked.
• If a double session exists and one period is linked, the second period will be automatically included.

Multiple Linking Visibility

To avoid confusion when multiple sets of periods are linked in the same block, each set of linked periods will be numbered (e.g., 1, 2, etc.). This helps users easily distinguish between different linked groupings.

Unlinking Periods

Users can unlink periods as follows:

• To unlink a single period: Left-click on the period and select Unlink Period(s).
• To unlink two or more periods: Right-click to select the periods, then left-click once to choose Unlink Period(s).

Rules for Unlinking:

• Only consecutive linked periods can be unlinked.
• All selected periods must belong to the same link group.
• The user must start from either the first or last period in the sequence — mid-sequence unlinking is not allowed.
• Clicking on one of two linked periods unlinks both.
• Clicking on one of three or more linked periods will only unlink the selected one if it’s at the edge of the sequence.

Remove all Links: 

Users can left-click on any period within a linked group (without right-clicking) to remove the entire link set.

Auto Schedule Linked Periods

During scheduling of a linked multiple sessions, the following constraints will be ignored:

• AM/PM Register
• Splitting Lunch
• Breaks: BR,AS,PS,LU
• Rule of “only one class per day”

Double Sessions Across Breaks in MIS

When the timetable is applied in the MIS, any linked double sessions that span a break will be registered as two separate single sessions across the following areas:

• Staff > Actions > Staff Timetabling
• Staff > Staff Profile > Details > Timetable Panel
• Staff > Staff Profile > Timetable
• Modules > Attendance > User Timetable
• Modules > Cover
• Modules > Curriculum > View Timetables