What is the best sequence for my Batches?

The Power of Batches

Activity Batches can be a powerful tool in TimeTabler - they help with:
-- (a) the sequencing/order of your activities/years [eg: do I schedule Years 10 & 11 first ?]
and:
-- (b) trialling 'What ifs..?' [eg: what if we had an extra Maths set in Year 9, or if we hired an extra English teacher for September ?].

     Sequencing / order:
Looking at (a) ... it is important to find the best sequence of batches for your school.
ie. the best sequence in which to load your batches into your schedule, to create the best timetable as easily as possible.  With experience, you will develop your own theories about this, but here are some thoughts:

-- Your 'Fixed Points' batch will always go first, and be locked in place. [Eg: you always have Year 9 Games on Weds afternoon].

-- After that, a basic principle is to schedule the most difficult activities / years first. Those with the least flexibility.   If you have been scheduling your school's timetable for a few years, you will have experience and thoughts on this.  If not, then the various timetabling checks & tests in the "Check & Validate" section of TimeTabler will help.

-- People often work top-down, one year (batch) at a time - concentrating first on the years with the biggest 'teacher-teams / blocks' - but this isn't necessarily the best sequence for your particular batches.

-- For some thoughts and examples on the best sequence (in our experience), click here. 
-- For how to choose the number of Batches you need, click here 
-- You can also filter the activities on the Scheduling screen, to select a subset of a Batch
-- And see also HelpMovie 8B 'What is the best order for my Batches?'.

     Trialling 'What ifs..?'
Looking at (b) ... 'What ifs..?' allow you to try-out all sorts of possible scenarios, and can be very powerful - for more details, see this article.