Schedule Builder

Schedule Builder

Overview

The Schedule Builder allows for the building of simple, core level timetables within Compass. This module is most useful for Primary Schools and small schools where timetabling may have previously been done on a simple document or spreadsheet. It is not suitable for schools that utilise a third party timetabling package such as Edval or First Class.

Schedule Builder takes away the need to manually populate subjects with classes, student enrolments and sessions.
The Form group rows are populated from a prior import from your SIS (e.g. CASES21, Denbigh, Integris, etc...). 
The columns of Subjects are populated from the Subjects and Classes page. 

For each new Academic Year you will use a Schedule Builder template to create your class schedules.  For information on how to create a new template, please refer to the 'Creating a Schedule for a new Academic Year' article from our Knowledge Base.

For information on how to make changes to your current year's Schedule Builder template, please see the below sections.

Please Note: When editing the schedule on either the 'Classes' or 'Timetable' tab, when you change content in cells the cell will display as red until you click 'Save'.  If you navigate away from the page while a cell is still red, the edit will not be retained.  Red cells will change to green when the content has been 'Saved'.

Settings

If you are using Schedule Builder on a daily basis to update class enrolments in relation to student milestone changes (i.e. students commencing or leaving), you can determine if the Schedule Builder enrolments import uses a student's newest milestone or their currently active milestone.

Example - Newest Milestone
Student A's newest milestone on file says they are leaving on the 30th of June.  If the Schedue Builder enrolments import is run on the 24 of May, the import will take the student's end date of June 30th and apply it, essentially unenrolling the student from any classes from the date the import is run onwards.

Example - Currently Active Milestone
Student A's newest milestone on file says they are leaving on the 30th of June.  If the Schedue Builder enrolments import is run on the 24 of May, the import will take the 'current' milestone over the newest milestone, ie. the student is still an active student on the 24th of May and will remain enrolled in their current classes regardless of the fact that the student has an upcoming newer milestone that they are leaving on the 30th of June.  

To have enrolment changes be determined by a student's currently active milestone, you will need to have the Attendance setting 'Use Current Active Milestone in Generating Schedule Builder Template' enabled.

     

To have enrolment changes determined by the newest milestone a student has on their record, leave this setting disabled.

     

To access this setting, go to 'Attendance' under the 'Organisation' menu (grid icon) and click 'Settings' (you will require the 'AttendanceAdmin' permission).

If you adjust this setting, ensure you click 'Save' in the settings pop-up to update your changes/

     

How to Edit the Lead Teacher of a Class

If you have a change of Lead Teacher for a class during the year, you will need to update this in Schedule Builder.

To do so, go to the Subject and Classes page under the Teaching and Learning menu (pencil icon).  Click on to the Schedule Builder tab.

     

Click into the current year's template.

     

Down the left you will see each Form, across the top you will see each Subject.  Locate the form you need to change a Lead Teacher for, move across that Form's classes until you get to the cell for the class you need to change the Lead Teacher for.  Click the cell.

For example, if you need to change the Lead Teacher for your Form 03A's Generalist class, locate the Form from the list of Forms down the left and move across that Form's row until the cell aligns under their Generalist subject.
     

In the pop-up when you have clicked the cell, change the Teacher to the new Lead Teacher.

     

Click 'Update & Close'.  If you have any other Lead Teacher changes to make, repeat this process.  When you have finished changing the Lead Teacher, click 'Save and Generate' at the bottom of the template.  This will trigger an import to be run and the class information for sessions ongoing will update to reflect the new Lead Teacher.

Note: If you change the Lead Teacher for a class that is the Subject also set for that Form on the Timetable tab, when you click 'Save & Generate' it will update the Lead Teacher on the timetable for that Form also.
     

If you have clicked 'Save & Generate' and the information has not updated, there could be an issue with the import data.  Please refer to the Import Data section further below in this article for assistance.

How to Timetable Shared Teaching for Classes

Go to the Subjects and Class page under the Teaching and Learning menu (pencil icon).
Click on to the Schedule Builder tab and then click into the current year's template.

     

On the Classes tab, for the Form's Generalist class you will have set a Lead Teacher when the template was set-up at the start of the year. 

     

This staff member will be the default Teacher for each session the Form has on their Timetable.  You can view this on the Timetable tab.

     

To add the additional teacher in the shared teaching arrangement, click the session, or sessions, that the additional teacher will be taking and change the Teacher set for that class to be the additional teacher.

     

Click 'Update & Close'.  When you have updated each of the applicable sessions for the Form, click 'Save' at the bottom of the screen.
If you need to add shared teaching information to other forms, select the Form from the drop down and proceed to set the Teacher for each of the applicable sessions.  Remember to click 'Save' at the bottom of the page before moving between forms to save you changes.


Please Note: When enabled for your school, it is possible to assign multiple teachers to each session if this reflects your class structure.  When enabled, this feature allows multiple teachers to be added into the Schedule Builder timetable.  


When you have finished adding all shared teaching data to the Timetable, click 'Save & Generate'.  

     

This will trigger an import to update student and staff timetables with this new data.

     

If you have clicked 'Save & Generate' and the schedules have not updated, there could be an issue with the import data.  Please refer to the Import Data section further below in this article for assistance.

Adding Subjects for Semester Reporting Purposes Only (Not for Attendance Data)

Part of the process when you are creating a Schedule Builder template for your Academic Year is setting up the Subjects.  The initial Subjects set up are usually the Generalist subjects as these are often used in the timetable to generate rolls for Attendance data.  Specialist subjects also need to be set up if you intend to have them listed as a Subject within your student Semester Reports.

If, come Semester Reporting time, you need to add some Subjects please refer to the 'Creating Additional Subjects in Schedule Builder' article from our Knowledge Base.

     

Import Jobs

When you make changes to the Schedule Builder template that require you to click 'Save & Generate' an Import will be triggered to bring through the updated information.

At times warning or error message can occur for the import.  To view the status of your import, go to Administration Tools (under the cog menu icon) and click 'Import Jobs'. 

Please note you will require the Configure permission to access the Import Jobs page, please refer to the Permissions article from our Knowledge Base for futher details.


     

If you see your most recent import lines (some import processes will have 1-3 lines on this page) showing with a warning or error, double click the '-' (hyphen) in the 'Add' column to see the details.

If the changes in your Schedule Builder Template were extensive, the import may have triggered the safety block.  This happens to prevent major changes to your timetable occurring unintentionally.  The error message will indicate the process was aborted due to a large number of changes if this is the case.  In these instances, please contact our Support Team via 03 9005 5217 and they can then check the process you are attempting and ensure it is safe to proceed.

If there are any other warning or error messages that you need assistance with, our Support Team will be happy to assist.  You can email them via support@compass.education or contact via phone.


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