Becky Trenow is a guest blogger for Curriculum Solutions. She shares insights on timetabling from a teacher’s perspective drawing on part time and full time classroom experience. Her blogs look at the impact of timetabling on: how to balance school staff needs, flexible working and timetabling to support students with SEN. Timetables are often built around staffing, rooms and curriculum blocks, but for students with SEND, or any social and emotional need, a timetable can quie

Becky Trenow is a guest blogger for Curriculum Solutions. She shares insights on timetabling from a teacher’s perspective drawing on part time and full time classroom experience. This is the second in a series of three blogs. Her blogs look at the impact of timetabling on: how to balance school and staff needs, flexible working and timetabling to support students with SEN. ‘If we can accommodate.’ It’s the phrase that many teachers hear when they first request part-time work

Becky Trenow is a guest blogger for Curriculum Solutions. She shares insights on timetabling from a teacher’s perspective drawing on part time and full time classroom experience. Her blogs look at the impact of timetabling on: how to balance school staff needs, flexible working and timetabling to support students with SEN. The summer term can feel like an impending juggernaut: revision, intervention, exams and all the summer enrichment admin I’ve been procrastinating over ti

School timetabling remains one of the most complex operational tasks in secondary schools. In last year's timetabling season, I wrote about my initial experiences with Bromcom’s wTimeTable while I was still forming a view. Having now completed several full timetable builds using it, I feel better placed to offer a reflection for experienced school timetablers considering a move away from Nova T6. This is my perspective shaped by practice and by the realities of secondary sc

Every year I write about the Turing Scheme because it has genuinely been one of the most powerful tools I have ever used to change students’ lives. It provides funding to schools to support students to go on international trips. It replaced the Erasmus scheme and previous British Council funding. The first year I won the grant, I took 14 students from the East End in London to Rwanda. Many of those students had never had a passport. Some had never travelled outside London. Th

In our most recent blog, we explored how curriculum design, staffing structures and financial planning are deeply interconnected, and how Integrated Curriculum and Financial Planning (ICFP) helps school leaders make these relationships more visible. We also outlined how both simple and advanced models can highlight where a curriculum is efficient and sustainable or where structural adjustments may be needed. This blog builds on that foundation by focusing on something equally

In many secondary schools, curriculum design and financial planning have traditionally been viewed as parallel but largely separate processes. Curriculum structures are developed in response to pedagogical priorities, while financial planning is conducted to ensure affordability across the staffing budget. In practice, however, the two are deeply interdependent. Decisions about class size, subject offer, set structure, staffing expertise and pupil pathways directly influence

As a timetabler, this is a question I’m being asked more and more often. Bromcom has significantly enhanced its timetable software, the...

Now is the ideal moment to start working with a timetable consultant while there is still enough time to review your curriculum and make...

Applications for the Turing Scheme for the academic year 2025 to 2026 are about to open. This blog discusses what you need to apply for...

Early in my career, I became Head of Maths in an inner London school. While I loved the role, there was a strong emphasis on exam...

I love creating timetables—it's like solving a giant Sudoku puzzle! The reward isn’t just personal satisfaction but an effectively run...