Timetabling software

[synaesthesia]

Does anyone have any suggestions for timetabling software? A large primary I look after (4 form entry) needs timetabling software, and Capita have said they can have Nova, but want £5k for it.

FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS.

Obviously it'd need to tie into SIMS. Any suggestions welcomed

 

 

FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS.

[Sylv3r]

We use the options software from here for our options blocks that does the job. The timetabling software looks very similar.

 

Free trial : timetable software ... for timetabling school timetables ... for easier scheduling.

[angrycomputingteacher]

Next year we're going to be using fet

[NotSoFast]

Keith Johnson's Timetabler is the obvious choice.

[mukz]

Keith Johnson's Timetabler is the obvious choice.

 

+1 for this, we used to use this before NOVA

[djrscally]

I've always used Scheduler, but Keith Johnson's Timetabler I have heard good things about and the Options software from the same company isn't too shabby.

[PhilNeal]

I don't recognise the cost that has been quoted for Nova-T. Could it include training? Anyway I'd recommend double checking.

[synaesthesia]

Quite possibly. It came directly from the CSM Barbara Cooper. (Northampton). I would have thought a few hundred acceptable but certainly not in the thousands. I doubt it was an official quote as Barbara was visiting the school at the time and I had asked her to speak to the person who had requested it. Edited November 7, 2016 by synaesthesia

[matt40k]

Could be they've over quoted as they suspect it'll be overkill. Pointless if they stick to the same class groups and they just move between a few teachers regularly. Better off with a creating calendar for each class.

[synaesthesia]

It's one of the largest primaries in the area, although I've no doubt it's also slightly overkill. I think the person responsible has used Nova before and gets on with it. Overkill isn't always bad; SCCM is overkill for 95% of schools but so many of us wouldn't do without it

[matt40k]

Size really doesn't come into it, its more how complex your setup. The key is to keep it simple and I assume they just want to make sure you guys don't over complicate it because someone wants to keep their Nova-T skills up.

 

Kinda get your point about SCCM, you could use InTune, CentraStage or such, whatever automation process you use it makes more sense then doing it all manually

[Bev]

We use ASC Timetables, I've used it for a medium sized middle school and found it excellent.

http://www.asctimetables.com/

 

You can download it and create your timetable for free, but you will need to pay in order to print. however, it gives you a good chance to see if it will work for you.

We have used it for the last 8 years, prior to that I believe they used post-it notes on the dining room table!

Edited November 7, 2016 by Bev

[NotSoFast]

Could be they've over quoted as they suspect it'll be overkill. Pointless if they stick to the same class groups and they just move between a few teachers regularly. Better off with a creating calendar for each class.

 

Re-reading the original post (and bearing in mind I know nothing of primary timetabling) could they just use Excel? I've been doing our timetable in Excel for years (a small secondary) then just using Scheduler to get it into Facility/Progresso. It fits my mental model better as I can see the whole school timetable in one view. It's basically like an old fashioned pegboard (don't laugh) but you can save, undo etc, and I have conditional formatting and a few other formulas to check for clashes. Happy to share. EDIT: I have no idea how this would then be put into SIMS!

Edited November 7, 2016 by NotSoFast

[synaesthesia]

I'm only really a 3rd party as their support manager, but as said I believe it's because that's what the person responsible is used to. I think it's all currently done in Excel and she's not happy with doing it that way for whatever reason. I do like to keep things simple though, and I think they were expecting Nova to be a part of SIMS rather than a bolt-on. I've recommended giving Timetabler a go anyway so maybe they'll get on with that.

 

Anecdotally, my son's old school (primary) had an excel based timetable system and it's safe to say it was clearly made by someone with a spreadsheet fetish. It was either the world's most complicated timetable or an extremely over-complicated spreadsheet!

[Esteban_Child_of_the_Sun]

Depending on exactly what they are trying to achieve, you may wan to look in to SIMS Primary Curriculum. It doesn't have the depth of a timetable, in that it won't tell you what room you need to be in when, but it will allow you to generate for example English classes with an assigned teacher and group of students. So assuming they don't want to also use Cover and Lesson Monitor, then it may be worth investigating.