[SIMS] Timetabling - who does yours?

[Sivadam]

Timetabling!

That's summat I have been doing for about 30 years! Firstly by hand - pencil, paper, forceps and magnetic strips on a foolscap size, steel metal sheet. There wasn't such a thing as a computer then!
Then came Nova DOS. Then NovaT Windows followed by the takeover of Nova by Capita. At that stage Nova was in Windows but SIMS was still in DOS! Following on from NovaT came Modelling and Curriculum which led into NT6! And Yes - I still maintain NT4!

NT6 can seem very daunting to the uninitiated, but is a superb tool that I would recommened to all Timetablers!

[Linfit]

Vikpaw - Yes, of course YMMV - its part of the bundled costs we pay to our SIMS support unit at the LA, which includes training, support etc, as a single line budget item.
I was forgetting support and payment models for SIMS seem to vary widely across schools (and indeed countries !)

[vikpaw]

I see. Interesting that. So for you it makes sense to use as much of the system as possible since you're paying a fixed fee.

[GREED]

I would recommened to all Timetablers!

All timetablers using SIMS

[Sivadam]

Of course Graham!

SIMS is one MIS that has a superb Timetabling package!

[GREED]

Of course Graham!

SIMS is one MIS that has a superb Timetabling package!

Indeed it does. Not all can say that.

[speckytecky]

Thanks for all your very useful replies folks - perhaps a poll would draw out a clearer picture on the whole time tabling in school issue. Rather than blunder ahead and put up an incomplete poll would any other contributor care to run with one please?

[DSapseid]

Our Deputy Head does our timetable. Seems to be quite alot of deputy heads do it!!!

She uses NovaT6. Our LEA SIMS support team (now capita it services mind) run timetabling courses to show people how to use it, may be worth seeing if there are similar in your LEA.

This will be the last year that its done in NovaT6 as we are moving to Progresso!

[vikpaw]

Not sure what you'll gain from a poll. What exactly do you want to find out. Most systems that need a timetable will have some sort of package and it's usually run by a dedicated person. Too complex and confusing to have too many fingers in the same pot.
If T6 still proves too complex and there's no training available you could look at Timetabler but you'll still need to understand the basics of T6 as it will be imported into there.

[Sivadam]

Speckytecky,

Timetabler has the ability to transfer the timetable directly to SIMS via the same/similar Curriculum Matching wizard that NT6 uses. You don't have to go via NT6 in this case!

I believe it can do the same with other MISs as well!

(Now that's novelty - me supporting a different product!)

[Keith-Johnson]

If T6 still proves too complex and there's no training available you could look at TimeTabler but you'll still need to understand the basics of T6 as it will be imported into there.

No, that's not correct. TimeTabler exports directly into SIMS .net, using the same import wizard [currmatch.exe] that Nova-T6 uses.
If you use TimeTabler you don't need T6 at all.

[Keith-Johnson]

Timetabling!

That's summat I have been doing for about 30 years! Firstly by hand - pencil, paper, forceps and magnetic strips on a foolscap size, steel metal sheet. There wasn't such a thing as a computer then!

Actually there was. The first version of TimeTabler was in 1981, on a Commodore PET ...followed by a version on the BBC computer the following year.
It ran in machine code for speed, ...but memory was so tight in those machines that the Automatic Scheduling part had to be loaded separately from the Printouts part. How times have changed!

[Sivadam]

Ok Keith. Let's just say I was a lot quicker than any machine that was around at that time!

I was actually complimenting your program to others too!

[speckytecky]

Fair doos - not much point in a poll then. The flavour I'm picking up from the replies is Timetabling is usually the province of a SMT member (frequently the Deputy Head) and as such on the small numbers of pupils and staff we have should be relatively easy to run with T6 but if it's proving difficult we could use Free trial : timetable software ... for timetabling school timetables ... for easier scheduling. and from there import into T6 / SIMS?

Not sure what you'll gain from a poll. What exactly do you want to find out. Most systems that need a timetable will have some sort of package and it's usually run by a dedicated person. Too complex and confusing to have too many fingers in the same pot.
If T6 still proves too complex and there's no training available you could look at Timetabler but you'll still need to understand the basics of T6 as it will be imported into there.

[vikpaw]

Yep, that about sums it up. And i was incorrect about where it imports. Timetabler goes straight to SIMS, so you can bypass T6 if you want to. Sorry, been a long time since i had to deal with it. My first action was to ensure we switched over to Nova T straight away!

If I recall correctly, there was also a handy Cover module which we used to use.

Don't dismiss Nova altogether though, you might find you get used to it. Give it a try, you can make as many different files as you want to play with. If you're setting up next year, you can even send them back to SIMS to see how they'll look. Play with a dummy setup and try to make the typical changes you are asked to make.

Has the whole process been explained to you? Teacher / structural changes are in NovaT, student class allocations are done in SIMS. So class memberships can be done in SIMS without having to go into Nova.