E10 - Class data: TeacherPref

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Syntax
  • None
  • Only
  • Evenly
• Drill down to see teacher options
• Indirect add teacher to sets

Syntax

This column should be left unedited for the majority of classes.  Teachers who can teach a particular COURSE will have been defined in Teachers > Subject Teachers.  The TeacherPref column is used to specify particular teachers where necessary but should be used sparingly, allowing E10 to make the best choice from among the Subject Teachers set when running Auto staff.  

Examples of appropriate use include where

• Yr12 staff are carried over from last year’s Yr11 (some schools only)

• one class is a streamed or remedial class, and there is a desire for a particular teacher to take this class ‘level’ of the subject in that year. Note if there are dedicated classes and teachers for ‘selective’ classes – these can be set up with specific and unique course codes, so the sets can be managed as usual – i.e. not at the class level as a ‘preference’.

The TeacherPref field is transient, and does not generally carry across when the file is rolled over to a new year. Where classes are set to be promoted on roll over, the TeacherPref values will also be promoted.

To specify a class level staff preference, simply click the TeacherPref field, then select (or type in) the teacher code(s) required. Comma separation allows multiple entries against a class if desired, which simply means either of the teachers are an equal level preference for the class.

'???' (Three red question marks) indicates there are no teachers specified in the Subject Teachers set for this subject.

None

Enter ‘None’ or click the None checkbox in the teacher picker slide-out.  

'None' means the class does not need a teacher.  The entry 'None' acknowledges the lack of staff options for the class is normal.

• 'None' is not the same as having no teachers specified in Subject Teachers ('???')

Examples of classes which may not require staff include Assembly, Chapel and External Study. If these classes were left without the 'None' entry, and there were no options in the Teacher set for the subject ‘Assembly’, then E10 would report this as a staffing failure, as no options are provided.

Other examples requiring 'None' include sub classes, additional room classes such as a Workshop or anywhere where a second room is attached to a class but a second teacher is not required.  

Care should be taken to apply 'None' at all times this is appropriate, else there may be instances of booking more teachers (or rooms) than actually required, as failure to list options means default resource options will be used.

Sort, by double clicking the TeacherPref column heading in the F6 Class data screen, to group all the Resource='None' classes together. If you see a teaching class here which actually needs a resource, you can rectify the issue. Users are far more likely to neglect to enter an option than to specify 'None' incorrectly, so it assists by forcing users into applying an active setting for these non-standard classes.

Only

This tag prevents any fallback to the staffing options for the subject, meaning the one (or several) listed against the class are the ONLY options permitted. This tag should be used very sparingly as it is not designed or encouraged to be used widely. In cases where it is used, caution should be taken to ensure the requirements could not be more accurately or efficiently coded.

An example may be coding ‘Only’ to specific staff for a top streamed class in a subject of several classes. This could be appropriate, but listing the staff as a preferred teacher will almost always achieve the same result but with more flexibility to consider or show alternatives.

Note that applying ‘Only’ without any teacher options listed in the TeacherPref field is equivalent to applying the tag ‘None’.

Evenly

This tag is applied to classes where the staffing should be applied evenly to all classes of that subject and year. If not applied, E10 could for example assign one teacher to take two or even three classes in a given subject, assuming this was permitted by class structure. A block line subject like English does not need an evenly tag as it is not possible for a teacher to take two classes clash free, as the second class would always be on with the first class.

Generally there is no need to apply evenly to classes unless there is a specific problem. It is not common to see staff taking multiple classes. In some cases this may be desirable, as it reduces the lesson preparation and assignment marking for teachers if they have two classes of a given subject in one year. It may also assist in better load balancing, but does mean the teacher has contact with fewer year groups in the school. 

Drill down to see teacher options

Double clicking on the cell displays the preference levels of the teachers in the Subject teachers set. Staffing requirements are listed by class in the TeacherPref field (F6 Class data screen), and by subject + year(s) in Subject Teachers.

Click the Edit Set  button in this window, or if the window has been closed, click ctrl-T from the Class data screen to see the underlying Teachers > Subject Teachers data for this subject.

Indirect add teacher to sets

Often users incorrectly specify staff options in the TeacherPref field, when the staff listed should really be subject level options. Where a new teacher is assigned to a class as a preference that is not currently in the set for that subject, E10 prompts you to add them to the set, in addition to their being assigned as a preference to that specific class.

This allows them to be considered for other classes of that subject, either now or in future years. This is an important part of the knowledge management, where teacher skills are progressively recorded and safely managed in the set screen. Class level preferences are transient, and will be deleted when the file is rolled over to a new year.

Teachers should ideally be registered to sets in either F2 Teacher data screen, or shift-F2 Teacher set screen, as the prompt for registration of new teachers to a set in the F6 class data screen is more an alternate method of capturing this information, which should perhaps already have been specified.

Add : Adds the teacher to the subject set shown, as a normal option.

Add as Exception: Adds the teacher as a single bracket level fallback to the subject set, but leave them as a primary preferred teacher for the current class only.

Cancel : Doesn’t add the teacher to the set, and removes them as a preferred teacher for the class.

A second way staff options can be indirectly detected and prompted for inclusion in the set, is by assigning a class to a teacher in the F4 staff allocations screen, who is not listed as an option to take the class.

A third way is to reassign a single period in any of the Teacher master screens as a split class to a teacher who is not currently an option for the class, or by assigning a period as a split class using the Ctrl-T in a normal timetable screen.