Schools and multi-academy trusts (MATs) wrestle with the problem of disadvantage every day. Addressing the disadvantage gap is part of every school, MAT’s, and local authority’s (LA) strategic plans, pedagogical intent, monitoring systems, and financial budgets, among other things.
Equity in the curriculum
School leaders at all levels have become adept at marrying up local context with evidence-informed practice alongside expert input to ensure that the curriculum in a particular subject provides equity. The same is true of the teaching and learning pedagogy employed to ensure the most disadvantaged students learn effectively. Senior leaders are then tasked with ensuring that their curriculum, assessment, and teaching and learning are built around the principles of equity for our most vulnerable students.
It’s rare to walk into any school or classroom these days and not witness the elements of an inclusive curriculum that addresses disadvantage in some shape or form.
These elements if applied well help close the disadvantage gap piece-by-piece. But if we’re looking at what other gains we can make to close the gap faster, the opportunity to examine the equity of the timetable seems obvious – but it’s often overlooked.
Equity through the timetable
When I used to consider equity for disadvantaged students, I examined the curriculum, assessment, and teaching and learning, not the timetable. The timetable for me is just an operational exercise that takes place after all the strategic thinking has been done.
Don’t get me wrong me: timetabling is complex and often left to those who understand it. In fact, I distinctly remember when I wrote my first timetable back in 2004 what my timetabling mentor told me: “Everyone complains about the timetable but no one ever thanks you for it.”
During the years I wrote timetables I never considered the delivery of the timetable as a mechanism for building equity for our disadvantaged students. Sure, I have used it to cost the curriculum and realise the curriculum strategy, but not to overtly tackle disadvantage (shame on me!).
However, I had the privilege of attending a training day for the Cabot Learning Federation’s (CLF) timetablers and curriculum leads, led by Tony Searle, Director of Education. and the aim of the day was twofold. Firstly, to establish a set of principles for timetable design which unashamedly prioritised equity for disadvantaged students and secondly to show how this can be achieved through Bromcom’s Cloud wTimeTable solution.
From balancing the curriculum subject across the week and interrogating the use of sets and subject groups, to the deployment of the right staff at key transition points and optimising the scheduling of key subjects, the timetablers of the CLF expertly demonstrated how the architecture of the timetable could be used to produce marginal gains for our disadvantaged pupils while balancing the many demands placed on the timetable.
Bromcom’s Cloud wTimeTable was then showcased to put these principles into practice, utilising its flexibility from full manual timetabling to auto scheduling with the principles of equity being realised through the rule setting at the scheduling stage.
From timetabler to equity architect
CLF proved that with Bromcom’s Cloud wTimeTable and the right people in the room, there are very few areas of education which can’t be seen through the eyes of the disadvantaged students and crucially can’t be engineered to help close the disadvantage gap. We all went into the training day as timetablers and thanks to Tony Searle, CLF, and little bit of help from Bromcom’s Cloud wTimeTable emerged as Equity Architects.
When time travel is finally possible, I’m going to go back to 2004 and tell my timetabling mentor that he was wrong: “People will thank me for the timetable; perhaps not overtly but through the lives they go on to lead born out of the choices my timetable will give them. I am not a timetabler – I am an Equity Architect.”
Learn more about Cloud wTimeTable
Cloud wTimeTable is our advanced web timetabling solution that’s fully integrated in Bromcom MIS. It includes a range of new capabilities including auto scheduling and conflict notifications, and saves you having to manually import timetables into your MIS. Click here to read the Cloud wTimeTable brochure.
