Review 3: Writing Timetables

In writing the review this week I am at the point of the year where every secondary school in England is seeking to have planned a new timetable cycle for the new academic year so that staff can begin the process of winding down and refreshing during the Summer break, so why talk about timetables? Increasingly we are seeing this is a process that larger primaries are undertaking as they structure for specialist delivery and outsourced delivery.

"Imagine the following. It is late June, and you are a secondary teacher who's timetable for next year is about to be released. This year has been tough: teaching disruptive classes in scattered locations. You’ve pleaded with the timetabler to keep you in ‘your’ main room, near your colleagues and resources. Similarly, you’ve asked, on the strongest terms, not to have year 8, last thing on a Friday, again. You only see them once a week, and they just don’t learn well by that stage of the week. You’re also a bit worried, as the timetabler has previously asked if you could teach year 7 history, but it really has been a long time since you even studied this subject. Hopefully, they have managed to avoid this for you as you know you will have your hands full of curriculum change in your main subject, without having to moonlight in an unfamiliar department." Vaughan C. , Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge. "LESS CAN BE MORE: RETHINKING THE USE OF TIME IN SCHOOLS" Buckingham Journal of Education 2023 Vol 4 No 1 pp 73–92

The reality is that with the staffing concerns across the globe the skills of timetabling have become critical for the comfort and climate of every school. Recently more research has been undertaken to look at scheduling focussing on how good scheduling is the major impacting factor on learner success. Increasingly we are seeing budgets tightened to the point where flexible timetabling is just not possible in the way that it used to be. The myth that the timetabler needs a 10% extra window of staff capacity to build a good timetable is just not possible. I say myth because there is no science in it, it was just a finger raised to the wind idea. The reality is that this "capacity" costs more than anyone can afford. In the more scientific approach of our SMARTcurriculum Ltd Analytics I would suggest that big secondaries (over 6 forms of entry) 3-5% is more realistic and small secondaries 5-8% more feasible. 5% is more the amount that is affordable. This capacity is an issue in areas of shortage and specialism and will remain so.

"Teachers and school leaders have long claimed that increased workload negatively impacts results and teacher retention. However, scant empirical evidence exists to support these claims until now. Using longitudinal data from England’s School Workforce Census, this paper presents the results of a study revealing associations between contact hours, timetable complexity, GCSE performance and teacher attrition. This supports the notion that decreasing departmental average contact hours may lead to higher GCSE value added for that department." Vaughan Connolly PhD, University of Buckingham Press, Jul 28, 2023

Download here: https://www.ubplj.org/index.php/TBJE/article/view/2144/1752

We know it's tough, so why comment on expert timetablers? Simply put - the job is getting tougher and schools need quality timetables to run in difficult times so why not employ experts to do it who have developed the skills and understanding of the systems used to get the best for you?

A school leader said to me a few years ago that he would never again ask his deputy to sit aside for weeks, at one of the most critical periods of the year, inaccessible and stressed, as they disappear into a small room to grapple with a piece of software they only use for a few weeks, when specialists can do the scheduling leaving the leader to use their time leading the school. It all happens during appointment season, special end-of-year events and the final stages of the examination season. It just made sense, he has used our services for over 6 years as have many more.

So what are the big issues that impact timetables? And how can specialist input aid the process?

If as a school leader you are not conversant with these principles your scheduling is going to be constrained.

Population Design.

• Good scheduling is impacted by the decisions made concerning the model design. This is fundamentally impacted by population design. How to determine the teaching group design is the essence of population design, there are several levels of populations within a school: multi-year-group level or the teaching in "vertical groups" i.e. mixed years. Year group divisions, traditionally called "bands" and "sub-bands", and then "group structures" with various methods of, and reasons for, group design. All in the theory of population design.
• There are three impacts. Mobility - are we creating blocks and ceilings for learners is there a freedom of movement if necessary and how much disruption is inbuilt when change is necessary? Equity - does the curriculum provide the right structure for the learners or do they just have to cope within the structure? Efficiency - do the design force costly decisions that really cannot be sustained?

Sticker and blockers?

• The reality is that a school is made up of a variety of disciplines with differing requirements. It is led by people who have had experience of those requirements and not always able to see other perspectives. Unconscious bias is inevitable. If you are not able to break out of that bias it will impact the shape and delivery of the school. I have commented to school leaders on many occasions that I can see the specialism of the leader by just reviewing the timetable. Sadly, I am more often correct because the decisions made favour the specialist's discipline, they are obvious and often create issues in schedule delivery,
• This balance of staff is what makes schools the vibrant places they should be, but it also brings the challenge of managing diversity. Decisions about who gets priority in decisions and what decisions shape other aspects of the timetable are key. Often small cohorts of learners impact the whole timetable. Outsourced Alternative provision is seen as a positive for learners but if included in KS4 option blocks can constrain the whole timetable delivery based on the booked provision. An example, I worked on recently meant that 2 learners in a school of 1800 learners had to have their alternative provision at a particular time with an external provider that fixed the whole timetable in a form that made significant compromises across the school. Other techniques employed released an impossible position where 2 disengaged learners drove the whole structure. In another school, a subject lead asked for double sessions in English in Year 11 for a specific testing regime which created many unintended consequences across the year groups. In reviewing the schedule a year later, the subject leader had left, the department reported that they had never used the structure in place and had spent the year complaining about the scheduling as unusable and having a negative impact on the learning experience. So who understands, controls and monitors these decisions?

Leading and managing.

• As per my quote above about the school leader wanting to release the school leadership to lead and manage the teams while using external experts who have experience of delivering schedules is a positive thing but it also releases leaders to have a better understanding of what is achievable, as long as they are willing to hear. Often there are so many constraints that they interfere with each other - the combined constraints work against each other and form an undeliverable matrix. So who decides, who has the final say? Our process begins with feasibility - can each element be achieved? What about the moving goalposts- how able are you to respond?

Year-long or term-long?

• Increasingly timetables need to flex in-year. I was talking to a school this morning that is already preparing to re-write the schedule for the Spring term within the next academic year having understood that staffing changes are going to mean that schedules are morphing significantly. Are you ready and prepared to have a model structure that can respond to staffing alterations - this is a more class-led structure than the more block-led structure so many want to establish, refer back to the population design comments. The most extreme I have experienced was a school that clocked up 15 significant schedule redesigns within an academic year, the question in this case is the noise of change detrimental to the culture of learning - I would suggest it is. The impetus for this need was a model which over-emphasised setting within blocks, which precipitated multiple split teaching groups. The antidote? Linear/class delivery across subject domains facilitates more flex but changes the decision structure. Who becomes the gatekeeper of decisions and who and what influences that decision? Who holds the design principles - the curriculum lead? This is why outsourcing to experts works, we can bring real impact to the school climate and support leaders in the right conversations!

Know the school

• I have been told repeatedly that outsourcing doesn't work because the expert cant know the school. That simply is not true. The requirement is actually that the school needs to understand what it is trying to achieve and every step is clearly articulated. This comes back to the discipline of population and model design. If this is articulated at the beginning of the process timetabling can be achieved successfully without even visiting the school. However, it is always valuable to do a school visit to get a feel for the team and the layout.

Model review

• As a result of all the elements I have discussed above a feature that has grown for us is model reviews, aside from the Curriculum Analytics that we undertake. A model review reports a school's model and the design implications that you may or may not have seen, it always is eye-opening and will support scheduling if you determine to do it in-house.
• Contact me or my team if you want to discuss this process you may be able to join our Timetable Network meetings where we will look at these issues.

Post 1: It is always rewarding to help school leaders achieve clarity and impact. If you would like to discuss how #SMARTcurriculum could help your school, please get in touch.

"I have found #SMARTcurriculum Analytics the perfect tool for managing all aspects of staffing (from appointments, subject allocation, costs to the school). It is easy to use, visually very engaging and has excellent training modules to help with queries I have. Chris Jones has also been superb in the face-to-face training and support provided for this software since we started using it.

It has ensured that different teams are 'joined up', effectively linking the timetabler, the business manager, and the people responsible for making staffing decisions and appointments.

The software is excellent value for money and I would recommend it to new and experienced Head Teachers alike.

Nicholas Simms, Headteacher, St Mary's High School"

Post 2: We are delighted to be working with Dan Browning, Head at Ipswich High School and to see that #SMARTcurriculum Methodology is as applicable in the independent sector as in the state sector and to receive this feedback.

"Working with Chris and SMARTcurriculum has allowed us to review and further improve our unique curriculum offer to include even more opportunities to develop character, leadership and personal skills. Their knowledge of curriculum development and timetable construction is second to none. I wholeheartedly recommend Chris and SMARTcurriculum as an organisation that is both highly knowledgeable and takes the time to understand each school's needs - and how curriculum development can help drive the vision of the school and further support pupils to flourish."

Dan Browning, Head, Ipswich High School

Post 3: #SMARTcurriculum Analytics encourages a deeper understanding of the issues affecting schools that can be supported through a quality curriculum and timetable. Do you have the opportunity to discuss the operational aspects of timetables and the more significant issues affecting schools?

Deputy Head Teacher, Rachel Adepoju, at Castle View School, Essex.

“Chris is patient, thorough and an expert in his field, with a wealth of knowledge and experience. I would recommend this to any leader wanting to develop and improve their curriculum provision.”

Post 4: I have worked with @Stephen Chamberlain

CEO, Active Learning Trust, for many years on integrated curriculum and finance models across a range of primary, secondary and special schools and in both large and small academy trusts. It has been a very interesting journey sharing my knowledge and understanding of the curriculum, qualifications, timetabling and teaching. It is through these open and honest conversations that SMARTcurriculum is able to be more than a financial exercise.

@Stephen Chamberlin shared :

"Every Headteacher with whom I have asked him to work has really valued the dialogue, challenge, support and professionalism Chris brings to all aspects of his work. So much so that he is always asked to return. Chris is equally great at reporting at board level on ICFP across a MAT and demonstrating ways in which schools have carefully considered their curriculum/budget models to ensure efficiency but, with the guidance Chris provides a broad, balanced and ambitious curriculum. This level of expertise is not easily found in the sector at the moment. I would recommend Chris and his team every time."

Link: https://www.cj-learning.com/testimonials/

Post 5: John Player, Deputy Headteacher

The #SMARTcurriculum leadership training programme continues to transform schools in the UK. John Player, Deputy Headteacher commented:

"Brought the theory of timetabling back to the table rather than simply the function of timetabling. This allowed for a much more holistic analysis of what the core purposes of the school are and whether they are genuinely being applied through the timetable (or how they could be better applied)."