Student Options
1 day (9:30-4pm) Market Harborough, £150+vat

 

This one-day course is designed to allow users to understand how to setup Options.

Collecting student elective choices and designing your option blocks is an integral part of the timetabling process, on e which may not involve the timetabler in some schools.

The course is very hands-on right from the start ensuring you know how the software operates as well as the work flow required in capturing, analysing and processing the data.  So if you operate fixed blocks or preference-led blocking you’ll soon be up and running!  For some schools collecting student options and designing the blocks has historically been a manual task.  But now is the time for Options to take away all the donkey work and produce the final result and many other possible iterations in much less time. This allows you, the timetabler, to ensure that the option block pattern used is efficient for your timetable.

Laptops and training data are provided and the format of the day is very much hands-on.  At MIST Services we appreciate that each school is ‘different’ and as such you can tailor the day to your type of school.  Training data will be available for the following types of schools:

  • GCSE
  • A-Level
  • Diploma program (IB curriculum)

We recognise that one set of training doesn’t fit all, meaning you can opt for the most appropriate dataset.

Following the course you will also get complimentary access to the Options on-line course too.

NB If you are a Gold-Start school you can substitute your 1/2 hour remote session and reduce the fee by £47.50 (but can’t be used in conjunction with other vouchers).  Please state on the booking form when booked, discount won’t be applied retrospectively.

Student Options - Basic data

Basic data

  • Understanding what a Population is
  • Working as a team
  • Setting up number of choices and whether to use ‘Reserves’
  • Importing or typing Subject and Student data
  • Entering of student choices manually, electronic and via TOOLS

 

Analysis of Student Options

Analysis of choices

  • Setting up Choice rules and checking valid student choices
  • When to use Free
  • Understanding Clash table and number of groups required
  • Understanding 2D and 3D analysis on the Clash table
  • Checking Subject combinations (very useful marketing tool!)
Student Options - Pattern design

Pattern generation

  • Creating manual patterns
  • Seeding a pattern design
  • Auto-creating patterns
  • Defining of auto-create rules
  • Customising the auto-create generation settings
  • Understand student and choice satisfaction percentages
  • Comparing patterns
  • Review and counsel of students
  • Running of printouts and exports
Chris Knights-Branch, Trainer

Chris Knights-Branch

Instructor

I love Options, there is no other way to say it!

This one-day course will cover all aspects of setting up options for your school needs.  

It goes without saying that schools wish to do their best for their students but is it better to have a solution you can schedule that has a slight compromise for a student or have no compromise but a solution that can’t be scheduled!

In an ideal world there wouldn’t be a need for such a compromise but with challenging budgets and staffing constraints you never know.  But with Options you can easily do many ‘what-ifs’!

If you have any questions about the course just fill in the form below.  Look forward to working with you.