Alternative Curriculum

Alternative Curriculum lessons

What is an 'Alternative Curriculum' ?:
In SIMS.net and several other MIS, you can have ‘Alternative Curriculum’ ('A/C') lessons - these are lessons which any student, in any year, can be placed in.   Unlike normal lessons, these lessons do not belong to a particular year; they have ‘whole-school eligibility’, so that in your MIS you can place any student in any A/C lesson.

Here are some examples of when you might want Alternative Curriculum lessons:

• You maintain a ‘Study’ group in the Library each period, for both Year 12 and Year 13 students who do not have lessons in that period. These Study ‘lessons’ may be staffed or unstaffed.
• You have extra ‘withdrawal’ lessons for English and/or Maths, taught by SEN staff, which anyone, from any Year, can join rather than going to their usual ‘mainstream’ lesson.
• You have peripatetic Music teachers that you want to timetable.
• You have an ‘Isolation Unit’ to be staffed and timetabled.
• You provide other ‘Interventions’.

Can I enter an 'Alternative Curriculum' in TimeTabler ?
Yes - Click here to download our PDF which shows how you enter and schedule Alternative Curriculum lessons in TimeTabler.

Notes:
A/C lessons may be staffed or unstaffed.
They usually have a Room but they don’t have to.
It is usually best to assign the A/C lessons after the rest of the timetable has been completed.

Note: If you intend to duplicate or de-interleave your timetable to make it a two-week timetable, consider if you want the A/C lessons to be duplicated / de-interleaved as well.
If you don’t, add them after you have duplicated or de-interleaved your timetable.

If you have any questions, let us know.