Creating Additional Subjects in Schedule Builder

Overview

Most secondary schools or schools that use a third-party timetabling program will already have the necessary subjects setup in Compass, but many primary schools may need to assess the subjects that are setup on their portal, and in some cases will need to add subjects in order to create the reports they want. 

For schools that use Compass' Schedule Builder to create their schedules, you can view your current subjects by hovering over the Teaching and Learning menu (pencil icon) on Compass and clicking 'Subjects and Classes' from the dropdown menu.

The Subjects & Classes page will display all of the subjects that exist on Compass. This is how the information on your semester report will be broken down as well. Below is an example:
     

In the image above the students at the school would each have 5 different sections on their report - sections for Generalist, LOTE-Mandarin, Performing Arts, Physical Education, and Visual Arts. If the school wanted to report separately on say English and Maths, or English, Maths, Science and Inquiry, with the current setup they would not be able to do so, all of this information would need to be included on the Generalist page of the report.

To facilitate reporting on these topics separately you will need to create new Subjects for each learning area (e.g. English, Maths, Science, etc...), and then allocate which staff member will write this section of the report (typically the Generalist teacher).

You can do so by going to the Subjects and Classes page under the Teaching and Learning menu (pencil icon).

Click 'Add New Subject' (please note staff require the SubjectsAdmin permission to add/edit subject information).
     

Fill in the applicable details in the pop-up.

     
 

Code	Choose a code to assign to the subject.  The code must be at least 2 characters long, unique within this new Academic Year and, due to the potential impact on the timetable and attendance data, the code should NOT be changed once the Subject is created.  We generally recommend using a code that provides some indication of what the subject relates to i.e. for a Year 2 Generalist Subject, 02GEN might be the code you choose.
Short Name	Type in the name of the subject.  The Short Name field is generally referenced for the Subject name when subject data is being exported in various locations in Compass.
Long Name	The name keyed in for Short Name will populate this field by default.  You can add a more detailed/extensive subject name if required.  The Long Name field is what is used for subject names on Semester Reports.
Year Level	Choose the applicable year level this subject applies to from the drop-down i.e. if you are creating the Subject for Year 2 Generalist classes, select Year 2.  If the subject will apply across different year levels, choose 'Cross Year'.  This might be needed for a specialist subject such as Art or for if you are going to have composite Generalist classes.
Faculty	If you are using Faculties you can select the applicable one or leave as 'Default'.
Academic Year	This will default to the new Academic Year (because you set it at the start of this process before clicking 'Add New Subject').  If it is not showing the correct new Academic Year that you want the subject to be in, select the correct year from the drop-down.
Coordinator	If you have Subject Coordinators in place at your school you can choose the applicable staff member or you can leave this field blank.  You can come back in to edit the subject at a later date and add the coordinator if need be.
Schedule Layer	Choose the applicable Schedule Layer that classes of this subject need to sit on from the list available.  When creating standard subjects for your new Academic Year, the layer will generally be a Normal Classes layer.  For more information on Schedule Layers, please refer to the Configure Schedules article from our Knowledge Base.
Roll Marking Mode	When you have selected the Schedule Layer, it will add the default Roll Marking Mode for that Layer to this field.  If it needs to be different for this Subject, you can choose another type from the drop-down.  This Roll Marking Mode will then be the default for any classes created within this Subject.  Classes can be edited to have a different Roll Marking Mode if needed.
Attendance Code when marked Present	When you have selected the Schedule Layer, it will add the default Attendance Code for that Layer to this field.  If it needs to be different for this Subject, you can choose another type from the drop-down.  This Attendance Code when marked Present will then be the default for any classes created within this Subject.  Classes can be edited to have a different Attendance Code when marked Present if needed.
Period Structure	The Period Structure will show the default set for the Schedule Layer you selected.  Classes created within this subject will then follow this Period Structure.  For more information on setting up Period Structures, please refer to the Configure Schedules article from our Knowledge Base.
Course Fee ($)	If your school is using the Course Confirmations module to charge School Fees to families and you need to assign costs to Subjects so that students can be charged a Subject fee based on subjects they are taking, you can set the amount for the subject in this field.  This is mostly applicable in Secondary schools.  Leave blank if not applicable for your school.
Approval Req.	When student subject selection is imported into the Course Confirmation module, students who have selected to do subjects with this field ticked, will require the staff member administering the Course Confirmation cycle to approve the student for the associated fee to be charged.

When you have added all the information, click 'Save' and your new Subject will be created.  Repeat this process to add any additional Subjects you need for your Semester Reports.

When the subjects have been added, click to the Schedule Builder tab and click into the current year's Template.
     

You should see the newly added Subjects showing as a column within the template.

     

Click on the cell for the Form that needs to be assigned a class for the new Subject.  Assign the applicable Teacher for that class.  Click 'Update & Close'.

     

Repeat this process for each Form that needs a class created for the newly added Subject, or Subjects.

Then click 'Save & Generate' at the bottom of the screen.  This will trigger an import and generate classes for the newly created Subject or Subjects.

These Subjects will then show in the Semester Report cycle and you can configure them as required per your Reporting requirements.  Please refer to the 'Administering a Semester Report Cycle' article from our Knowledge Base for details on this.

If you have clicked 'Save & Generate' and the new classes have not been created, there could be an issue with the import data.  Please refer to the Import Data section in the 'Import Jobs' section of the 'Schedule Builder' article from our Knowledge Base for assistance.

Once you have the correct subjects you require setup, you can continue with the configuration of your report cycle.     

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