How to manage Scheduling in wTimetable

The Scheduling page allows users to drag and drop Blocks into available Periods to create a scheduled Timetable. Staff and Rooms can still be assigned to Classes on the Scheduling page.

This guide looks at the following functions within Scheduling;

• Schedule sessions to make a timetable
• Remove scheduled sessions from a timetable
• Add Staff to a scheduled class
• Add Rooms to a scheduled class
• Remove Staff from a scheduled class
• Remove Rooms from a scheduled class
• Reassign a scheduled class to another member of Staff
• Reassign a scheduled class to another Room
• Remove the schedule for a day etc
• Add Non-Contact codes
• Add Not Available codes
• Bulk assign Non-Contact Codes and Not Available
• Lock / Unlock scheduled sessions
• View individual timetables – for Staff
• View individual timetables – for Rooms
• Swap Staff in a scheduled class

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.

For more information on wTimetable see here and see What’s New for latest updates. For guidance on Visual Indicators see here.

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

Schedule Sessions to make a Timetable

When selecting sessions to schedule, the following rules apply:

• Classes can only be scheduled to the corresponding Bands.
• Linear Blocks – individual classes will be scheduled one at a time.
• Options Blocks – all classes in the Block will be scheduled at the same time.
• Complex Blocks – all classes from the same Period in the Block will be scheduled at the same time.

1. In the Year Group view, schedule classes by dragging & dropping sessions from the Blocks in the Block side panel into any available sessions in the Band in the timetable. Available sessions are shaded in green.
2. Scheduled sessions can be rescheduled by dragging and dropping to another available session.

• Tip: Switch off All Year Groups toggle and filter by Band in the Blocks panel.

Any scheduled classes will appear greyed out in the Blocks side panel in the Scheduling page

• Tip: Use the toggle Show Unscheduled to see unscheduled classes only.

Note: Scheduled classes will display the scheduled Day, Week, and Period underneath the classcode in the expanded Blocks view of the Curriculum Plan page.

Remove Scheduled Sessions from a Timetable

When removing scheduled sessions from a timetable, the following rules apply:

• Linear Blocks – individual classes will be removed one at a time.
• Options Blocks – all classes in the Block will be removed at the same time.
• Complex Blocks – all classes from the same Period in the Block will be removed at the same time.

1. In the Year Group view, left click to Remove a session from the timetable. (Removed sessions are no longer greyed out in the Blocks side panel.)

Add Staff to a Scheduled Class

In the Year Group view, drag and drop a Staff member from the Staff side panel into a class in the timetable, the Staff member becomes assigned as the Main Staff.

• Tip: Hold down the Shift key (and keep it held down after letting the Staff drop into place) when adding Additional Staff. Additional Staff will be denoted by the + sign.

Note: Staff can also be added to classes in the Curriculum Plan page.

Add Rooms to a Scheduled Class

In the Year Group view, drag and drop a Room from the Room side panel into a class in the timetables, the Room becomes assigned to that class.

Note: Once a Room is assigned to a class, another Room cannot be assigned to the same class.

If a Staff member has preferred Room – when assigning the Staff member to a class – their preferred Room for that Subject also gets assigned to the class. If a different Room has already been assigned to the class, that Room will be kept assigned. If the preferred Room is already assigned to another class in the selected Period, the Room is kept for that class.

Note: Rooms can also be added to classes in the Curriculum Plan page.

Remove Staff from a Scheduled Class

In the Year Group view, left click to Remove from this session. Choose Teacher and Room, Teacher Only, or Additional Staff.

In the Room view, left click to Remove the teacher from this session, or Remove additional staff.

Remove Rooms from a Scheduled Class

In the Year Group view, left click to Remove from this session. Choose Teacher and Room, or Room Only.

In the Staff view, left click to Remove the room from this session.

In the Room view, left click to Remove.

Reassign a scheduled class to another member of Staff

Scheduled classes can be reassigned to another member of Staff, as long as the class remains scheduled in the same Period. The Staff Code will update to the newly assigned Staff member.

• In the Staff view, drag and drop the class to another Staff member. E.g., In this example Cl would update to Da.

Reassign a scheduled class to another Room.

Scheduled classes can be reassigned to another Room, as long as the class remains scheduled in the same Period. The Room Code will update to the newly assigned Room.

• In the Room view, drag and drop the class to another Room.

Remove the schedule for a day etc

1. In the Year Group view, left click on the day header.
2. Choose Remove the schedule for ___day.

Note: If the All Year Groups toggle is switched on – these actions will be applied to the whole timetable and all Year Groups. If a specific Year Group is selected, the action applies only for the selected Year Group.

You can also choose to Lock the schedule, or Unlock the schedule (See Scheduling > Scheduling > Lock/Unlock scheduled sessions).

Remove the schedule for a Period

1. In the Year Group view, left click on the Period header.
2. Choose Remove the schedule for ___day (week) PX.

Note: If the All Year Groups toggle is switched on – these actions will be applied to the whole timetable and all Year Groups. If a specific Year Group is selected, the action applies only for the selected Year Group.
You can also choose to Lock the schedule, or Unlock the schedule (See Scheduling > Scheduling > Lock/Unlock scheduled sessions).

Remove the schedule for a Year Group Band

• In Year Group view, left click on the Year Group Band header to Remove the schedule for Year X Band X.
• Choose Remove only unlocked sessions or Remove all sessions.

Remove the schedule for a Year Group

• In Year Group view, left click on the Year Group header to Remove the schedule for Year X. Choose Remove only unlocked sessions or Remove all sessions.

Remove the whole schedule

1. In the Year Group view, left click on the cog in the left-hand corner of the table.
2. Choose Remove the schedule to Remove only unlocked sessions or Remove all sessions.
   Note: If the All Year Groups toggle is switched on – these actions will be applied to the whole timetable and all Year Groups. If a specific Year Group is selected, the action applies only for the selected Year Group.

You can also choose to Lock the schedule, or Unlock the schedule (See Scheduling > Scheduling > Lock/Unlock scheduled sessions).

Add Non Contact Codes

Non-Contact Codes can be added to an empty session to prevent a class from being scheduled at this time. They can be scheduled in the Staff or Room views only, in the following ways:

• Staff view – individual sessions, Periods, days, and empty sessions for a Staff member.
• Room view – individual sessions, Periods, days, Department Name, and Room Code.

1. In Staff or Room views, left click in one of the empty session types as mentioned above.
2. Click on Non-contact Codes to display active Non-Contact Codes.
3. Select the code that will populate all empty sessions.

Tip: Right click first to select multiple sessions and then left click to add a Non-Contact Code to all.

• Left click on the session and choose Remove to remove the Non-Contact Code.
• To change to a different Non-Contact Code, left click on the session and choose Non-Contact Codes and select another code.’

Add Not Available Codes

Not Available code can be added to an empty session to prevent a class from being scheduled at this time. They can be scheduled in the Year Group view only, in the following ways:

• Individual sessions, Periods, and days.

1. In the Year Group view, left click in one of the empty session types as mentioned above.
2. Click on Not Available, Set day to Not Available, or Set day period to Not Available.

Left click and choose Remove this session to remove the NA code from a session.

Bulk Assign Non Contact Codes and Not Available

User can choose to bulk assign Non-Contact Codes and Not Available to Staff.

Go to Actions and select Non-Contact Codes.

Click Add New.

From the dropdowns, select a Non-Contact Code (includes Not Available), and a Period for the Non-Contact Code to take place. Select one or more members of Staff. Click Save.

The Non-Contact Code entry will be added to the table.

Note: The Non-Contact Code is added to the Staff’s timetable in the Scheduling tab and the Staff view.

Lock Unlock Scheduled Sessions

In the Scheduling page, scheduled sessions can be locked to prevent them from being moved to other available sessions until they are unlocked. Locking can be actioned by session, Period, Day, Band, and the entire timetable – for individual Year Groups and all Year Groups.

In the Curriculum Plan page, locked sessions have the following impact:

• Add classes – in Simple, Option and Complex Blocks – newly added classes will also be locked as the already included classes in the same Period. In Linear Blocks – newly added classes do not have to be locked.
• Clear these sessions – becomes disabled if all sessions are locked in a Block.
• Unschedule these sessions – becomes disabled if all sessions are locked in a Block.

1. In the Year Group view, select a Year Group from the drop down, or switch the toggle to All Year Groups.
2. Left click to select Lock or Unlock in the:
   a. Scheduled session
   b. Day header
   c. Period header
   d. Band header
   e. Timetable cog – top left-hand corner of the timetable
   Note: If a Year Group has been selected the lock option will specify the Year Group, if All Year Groups toggle has been switched on, the lock option will NOT specify a Year Group.

E.g., Timetable cog selected to lock/unlock the entire timetable.

A lock icon will appear in the sessions when they are locked

Note: All locked sessions will display the Lock icon in the Curriculum Plan also.

Note: Cross band blocks will be locked if they cross into the band that is being locked.

View individual timetables for Staff

Individual Staff timetables for all Year Groups can be found in the following three ways:

• In Curriculum Plan or Scheduling page, click on the three dots in the Staff side panel.
• Select Display this teacher’s timetable

• In the Scheduling page and Year Group view, left click on a session with an assigned member of Staff.
• Select Display this teacher’s timetable.

• In the Staff view, left click on a session with an assigned member of Staff, or a row header for a member of Staff.
• Select Display this teacher’s timetable.

When clicking on Display this teacher’s timetable, a Teacher Timetable popup opens, displaying the scheduled sessions for the teacher.

1. Switch to another teacher using the Teacher Selector dropdown. Default value: the teacher that the user navigated there from when left-clicking.

Note: If the teacher has a clash in any of the Periods, each of the scheduled sessions for that Period are displayed next to each other and marked with a red border.

• Tip: Left click on a scheduled session to Remove and Remove room from this session.
• Tip: Left click on any blank session to Add Non-Contact Codes. See Scheduling > Scheduling > Add Non-Contact Codes.
• Tip: Perform bulk-actions for the teacher timetable by left-clicking on Day headers, Period headers and cog in the top left-hand corner to:
  • Remove: Session (removes scheduled sessions), Non-Contact Code, and All (removes both scheduled sessions and Non-Contact Codes).
  • Non-Contact Codes (adds the selected Non-Contact Codes).

View individual timetables for Rooms

Individual Room timetables for all Year Groups can be found in the following three ways:

In Curriculum Plan or Scheduling page, click on the three dots in the Rooms side panel.

Select Display this room’s timetable.

In the Scheduling page and Year Group view, left click on a session with an assigned Room.

Select Display this room’s timetable.

In the Room view, left click on a session with an assigned Room, or a row header containing a Room.

Select Display this room’s timetable

When clicking on Display this room’s timetable, a Room Timetable popup opens, displaying the scheduled sessions for the Room.

Switch to another Room using the Room Selector dropdown. Default value: the room that the user navigated there from when left-clicking.

Note: If the Room has a clash in any of the Periods, each of the scheduled sessions for that Period are displayed next to each other and marked with a red border.

• Tip: Left click on a scheduled session to Remove and Remove teacher from this session.
• Tip: Left click on any blank session to Add Non-Contact Codes. See Scheduling > Scheduling > Add Non-Contact Codes.
• Tip: Perform bulk-actions for the Room timetable by left-clicking on Day headers, Period headers and cog in the top left-hand corner to:
  • Remove: Session (removes scheduled sessions), Non-Contact Code, and All (removes both scheduled sessions and Non-Contact Codes).
  • Non-Contact Codes (adds the selected Non-Contact Codes).

Swap staff in a scheduled class

Main Staff can be swapped in a scheduled class in the following way:

1. In the Scheduling page and the Staff view, left-click on the scheduled session name that contains an assigned main member of Staff.
2. Select Swap teacher.
3. The scheduled session becomes ‘saved’ for a swap, and the Staff Code is highlighted.
4. When clicking a second session, if it is scheduled in the same Period as the first session, the Swap with _ option is available. Click on Swap with _ to swap the two main members of Staff.
   Note: Where a room was not allocated and the teacher’s preferred room is available for the swapped period, the preferred room will be assigned to the session.

• Alternatively, if Swap Teacher is chosen for the second session, the second session becomes the ‘saved’ session.
• Alternatively, if Cancel Swap is chosen, the ‘saved’ session is cleared from selection.
• If Swap Teacher is chosen for a Complex scheduled session – the Subject will also be swapped as well as the member of Staff.