How do you know your timetable is effective?

MIST Services have seen an increase in the number of schools wanting (or needing) to re-write their timetable after it has been implemented, but do they understand the complications?

How do you know?
MIST Services have seen an increase in the number of schools wanting (or needing) to re-write their timetable after it has been implemented. This is quite a major decision and should never be taken lightly as an improved timetable may or not be achievable. Schools typically wish to re-write all or part of the timetable for various reasons, some include:

1 - Staffing levels not as planned
2 - A large number of 'split' teaching groups
3 - Poor use of facilities
4 - Bad distribution or spread of lessons
5 - Change of school timings
6 - Feel that it isn't a good timetable

Before going into any radical re-writes it is important to understand where the issues reside and decide if it is across the board or is it 'isolated'. The school should also map out clear criteria on what all the judgments are being made on and how were these missed during the timetabling process. Have the goalposts moved, were the objectives there at the start, was there sufficient time to review the timetable as it was being constructed? A school should work out where 'it' fell short so that in future years history doesn't repeat itself.

All or part of the timetable?
Some schools may only wish to re-write part of the timetable for example they are happy with Key Stage 4 and 5 but have concerns about the curriculum in Key Stage 3. In this scenario the school will wish to 'fix' or 'lock the KS4 and KS5 in place so that it doesn't change, this is obviously sensible but the timetabler can only swap lessons and staffing within KS3 i.e 3 years out of 7 years. As term has started virtually no part time staff will be willing to change their days off so again this will reduce the amount of flexibility the timetabler has in creating an alternative solution. The end result may not be substantially different from the original and the school will need to weigh up the amount of time it will potential take to get to this conclusion.

If your school has questions on reviewing or even re-writing a timetable contact MIST Services. MIST Services work with many schools, colleges and Academies each academic year, ultimately being exposed to literally hundreds of curriculums and timetabling problems.