Configuring the Schedule for a new Academic Year

Configuring the Schedule for a new Academic Year

Overview

As part of the annual Rollover process, schools are required to configure the schedule for the new Academic Year.  Configuring the schedule includes setting Term Dates, allocating Teaching Days and setting Period Structures.


This article will go through each of the aspects required to complete the configuration ready for your incoming Academic Year.  This step of the annual Rollover process can be completed prior to the end of the current Academic year.

This is Step 1 of the Rollover process; for further information about the overall Rollover process, please refer to the applicable Rollover article from our Knowledge Base for your school:

Permissions

Staff will require the Configure permission to complete this process as they require access to the Administration Tools menu under the cog icon.

For information on applying Permissions, please refer to the Permissions article from our Knowledge Base.

1 - Configure Schedules Page

To access the Configure Schedules page, go to the cog menu icon, click on Administration Tools and then select 'Configure Schedules' from the list.

     

Ensure you are viewing your upcoming new Academic Year by selecting it in the drop-down i.e. when completing this year's rollover, 2025 should be selected.

You will need to work through each of the Steps listed on the left to configure the schedule for the new Academic Year.  

2 - Time Periods (Academic)

Create the Time Period for your new academic year (2025). To do this click the ‘Add new Time Period’ button at the top of the table.

     

If all of your classes run for the entire year you only need to create a '2025 Whole Year' Time Period with the dates of the entire school year (most primary schools operate this way).

     

If you have any subjects that run for only a semester, or only a term, ensure that you’ve created a Time Period with each date range you will need for any of your subjects (2025 Semester 1, 2025 Semester 2 etc).

     

These Time Periods are used to allow you to easily select the correct date range when allocating subjects to a Time Period.
When you have created all the ones you need, move to the next step.

3 - Academic Years

The new Academic Year for the upcoming school year will be listed.

     

Using the edit pencil icon:
a) For any previous (no longer active) Academic Years, ensure 'Is Relevant' is set to 'No' (is un-ticked).
b) If you are still in the current (2024) year, it should be set as 'Is Relevant = Yes'.
c) When the 2024 Academic Year is finished, set 2024 as 'Is Relevant = No' and then set the 2025 Academic Year as 'Is Relevant = Yes' in this screen.

     

Setting a year as 'Is Relevant = Yes' means that year and the associated timetable data is what displays by default for staff and student schedules, attendance information, Chronicle entries etc.
You should only ever have one year set as 'Is Relevant = Yes'.

Please Note: If your school is running Headstart (where your students start 2025 classes at the end of 2024, or a different schedule at the end of 2024 than what was run for the majority of Semester 2), please read through the available Headstart article from our Knowledge Base to ensure the Academic Year configuration is accurate for your school.


 When you have the correct 'Is Relevant' settings in place, move to the next step.



4 - Create Terms

Click 'Terms (calendar year)'.

     

You can choose to click the 'Create Victorian Terms' (or applicable option for your state) to have the pre-defined Term dates load.
Alternatively you can click 'Create a term' to add each term individually.
To add each term individually, fill in the fields required and click 'Save'.

Once you have added all the Terms, if you need to edit a Term, click the edit pencil icon.  If you need to remove a Term, click the red cross.

5 - Period Structures

Here you will see any Period Structures your school uses, or has used, when creating class schedules.  Period Structures contain the periods that classes will run to when the schedule is generated. 

Your Period Structure may be called 'Default' or another title such as 'Primary' depending on the set-up at your school. 

You will likely not need to add a new Period Structure as schools generally use the same one year in year out.  If you do require a new one or you want further information on Period Structures, please refer to that section of the 'Configure Schedules' article from our Knowledge Base.

Periods

If you have an existing period structure, the periods set up within the period structure should be visible when you click the associated 'Period' icon.

         

     

If your school has not made any changes to your periods for the new school year you will not need to update anything within this screen.

If you have made changes, edit the periods as required.  Different days within the cycle can have different period structures. Change the day that is being edited by selecting it from the list of Cycle Days on the left hand side of the screen.

For full details on how to edit Periods, please refer to the 'Periods' section in the main Configure Schedules article from our Knowledge Base.

When the Periods are correct for each period structure you have within the new Academic year you will need to review the Calendar.

Calendar

To review the Calendar settings for each Period Structure, click the associated 'Calendar' icon.

     

Firstly ensure the Teaching Days are set by clicking 'Bulk Update Teaching Days'.  This step allows you to quickly allocate each date in the year to a day number in your timetable cycle.

     

Under the 'Weekdays' section, ensure any days of the week that are standard teaching days at your school are ticked.  Then under the 'Term start dates' section, select the first day of each term with the correct day of the timetable rotation and then click ‘Apply’ in the bottom left-hand corner. Please keep in mind you must select all 4 at once.  Typically a Monday date would be a Day 1, or if you’re on a 10 day cycle it might be a Day 6 – if you are unsure please confirm with your Timetabler. Setting these dates will allocate your timetable to these dates.

     

Now in the calendar you will see all the Teaching Days set based on the Term Dates you created.  Each Teaching Day will be allocated a timetable Cycle Day based on the Days you allocated on the Teaching Days step.

     

Ensure that all relevant public holidays are indicated as Public Holidays (which are highlighted in green). 
You can use the 'Bulk create public holidays' option.

     

To change a day to a Public Holiday, untick the date and then click the 'Make a public holiday' option next to it.

During this step you should also indicate any days that you know will be curriculum days at the school. To do this just untick the box on the row with the date.  This will ensure that when the timetable is imported, future classes will not be scheduled on that day.  You will still need to add a School Activity to account for student attendance data.  For details on that process, please refer to the Student Free Day article from our Knowledge Base.

Note: If you need to make any manual changes to the timetable day allocated to the calendar you can do so by clicking on the day number.  This will open a dropdown from which you can choose an alternative day number if required. 

     

     

Once you have completed the Period and Calendar settings for each period structure within your new Academic year, you have completed the Configure Schedule Process for the new Academic Year.  Please return to the applicable Rollover article for your school (Rollover Schedule Builder or Rollover Third Party Timetable) to continue on to Step 2 of the annual Rollover process.


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