Day 2 started with timetable conversation over breakfast, primarily about how curriculum, timetabling and scheduling was being handles in our respective organisations. I use these three terms quite purposefully as they were quite purposefully and discreetly employed by the course leads.
Curriculum was most often used to refer to how schools interpreted the phrase “broad and balance.” The schools curriculum vision, which subjects and their weighting. The options process. Furthermore, this might include the principles underpinning allocation, PPA, contact-ratios, staffing and part-time staff. Curriculum costs and staff deployment.
Timetabling referred to modelling; bands, blocks, spreads and schematics. Within this, pupil groups and pupil groupings.
Scheduling referred to the process of applying the decisions made above. Consistency, clash chart, combing charts. Communicating with curriculum leaders, finding solutions and/or negotiating outcomes.
From here on in, day two was very much back to pencil and paper. Checking our understanding from Day 1 and ensuring we understood what the software “Eric*” was doing with our inputs and queries. We were given a series of tasks, which we worked out on paper (in our pairs) before Roger demonstrated how the software made the calculations. The purpose of this manual-automated approach was to ensure we understand the process, that we understood what we were asking “Eric” to do. Second, it underlined that whilst the software could compute and execute our decisions much faster, Eric still required thoughtful and considered use.
I left the course with a more complete understanding of curriculum planning and timetabling and a deeper understanding of the processes behind scheduling. Processes aside, I left the course with a raised expectation of the importance of forward planning, particularly in defining your curriculum and managing your staffing. Lastly, that staff need to know how and why the curriculum is being constructed and that the timetable is always going to involve compromise, hence, the importance of both effective communication and negotiation.
Eric* – the software being used on the course.