The next step is to create attendance registers for the next academic year.
All schools must complete this step. If you do not complete this step, you will not have any registers in September.
How long will it take?
This step usually takes schools at minimum 2 hours. We recommend booking out an afternoon to complete this step, as it can take a while to promote classes, move students around and manage any missing enrolments for students.
Which option should we use?
Go to School > School Structure > School Year Setup and click on step 6. Registers.
If you use TimeTabler or no timetabling software, to set up your courses and classes you can choose between:
- A - Schedule sessions from Registration Forms
- B - Setup and promote Courses, Classes, Teaching Groups and Timetable
- C - Import Courses & Classes from TimeTabler, and manually enrol students
- D - Set up new Courses & Classes from scratch
What do we do if we use Edval?
If you use Edval, you'll need to follow these instructions: Steps to take prior to an Edval Import: Importing a timetable for the next Academic Year
The link above will include full instructions on importing your timetable, so you shouldn't use the instructions below.
Once you've imported your Edval timetable, jump to the next step to copy over or create Meals.
Set up registration form registers
This step is the same no matter which option you’re using. We recommend scheduling your registration sessions in Arbor rather than in TimeTabler, so the Registration column on the Teacher Hours report can recognise these events correctly.
Select option A. Schedule Sessions from Registration Forms.
Please note:
- If you have different registration times on different weeks, please see the How do we schedule different registration times for Week A and B? FAQ at the end of the article.
- If you don’t have specific registration sessions to take attendance in, you can skip to the section for your specific setup option.
This will bring you to a list of all the registration forms you have. Select the registration forms, then click the Bulk action button to select Schedule Registration Forms.
A slide over will appear where you enter the start and end times for the Registration Forms you have selected.
- You might want to check what they are this year first.
- Make sure your registration times overlap your Roll Call times.
You can see that they've been timetabled. You can click into these to view more information.
When you return to step 6 (by clicking Setup in the left-hand menu), you will now see a list of all the scheduled Registration Forms.
Option 1 - Setup and promote Courses, Classes, Teaching Groups and Timetable
We recommend this option for schools that use teaching groups and have complex timetable requirements, large numbers of students or a large choice of courses.
Accessing the 8-step workflow
Click into option B.
You’ll be taken to an 8-step workflow to copy classes over to next year. You will need to either:
- Complete steps 1 to 8 in order, to copy courses and classes from the previous academic year, then import your timetable, then promote your students - this will copy the course structure from the previous academic year.
- Skip steps 1 and 2 and move straight to step 3 to import a brand new timetable for that academic year - this will create a new course structure in Arbor from the information in the imported TimeTabler file.
We recommend the second option, as although it takes longer to promote the students, any subsequent imports or changes you do will be quicker. You can then continue from step 4 to promote student enrolments from their classes this year into next year.
Completing the steps
This step allows you to copy just the group names and attributes (such as description and linked teachers) from this academic year into the next academic year. No students will be enrolled yet during this step - students will be promoted into your teaching groups in a later step.
Tick the box next to all the teaching groups you want to copy over to the next academic year, then click the Bulk action button to select Bulk copy Teaching Groups to next academic year.
The teaching groups you’ve copied over will then have a tick next to them. This means the group and the academic lead assigned will be copied over.
To delete any teaching groups from next year that you didn’t want to copy over, tick the box next to all the teaching groups you want to not copy over to the next academic year, then click the Bulk action button to select Bulk delete copied Teaching Groups from next academic year.
Please note, this will only work if you have not yet enrolled students into the teaching group. If you’ve already completed steps 5 or 6 to enrol students into the teaching group, you won’t be able to delete the teaching group from here. You’d need to do this instead by clicking into the teaching group in step 6 and deleting it from there.
Once you have completed any bulk copying, mark this step as complete using the green button and move to the next step.
You can always make further changes to teaching groups by clicking into the Review section to get to the main Teaching Groups area, or by clicking Return to incomplete.
This step allows you to copy just the Courses and attributes (such as description and subject) from this academic year into the next academic year. No students will be enrolled yet during this step - students will be promoted into your courses in a later step.
In this example, we’re going to look at copying over this Art and Design subject. Here you can see that KS3 Art is the top-level course, under that you have Year 7 and then within year 7, you have two modules.
Tick the box next to all the courses you want to copy over to the next academic year, then click the Bulk action button to select Bulk copy Courses to next academic year.
The courses you’ve copied over will then have a tick next to them. This means the group and the academic lead assigned will be copied over. Notice that copying over the bottom-level courses also copies the courses that these modules are a part of.
To delete any courses from next year that you didn’t want to copy over, tick the box next to all the courses you want to not copy over to the next academic year, then click the Bulk action button to select Bulk delete copied Courses from next academic year.
Please note, this will only work if you have not yet enrolled students in the course. If you’ve already completed steps 5 or 6 to enrol students into the teaching group, you won’t be able to delete the teaching group from here.
Notice that if you only delete the bottom-level courses, the parent courses will remain. Be sure to delete all the courses from the structure that you don’t want to copy over.
Once you have completed any bulk copying, mark this step as complete using the green button and move to the next step.
You can always make further changes to your class structure by clicking into the Review section to get to the main Courses area, or by clicking Return to incomplete.
This step is for importing your timetable from TimeTabler.
- If you don’t use TimeTabler you’ll need to timetable your sessions manually. You can mark this step as skipped, then take a look at how to do this below.
- To import from TimeTabler, click +Add to upload your file. Follow the instructions in the Importing your TimeTabler file section of this article to import your timetable: Importing a timetable from TimeTabler
Top Tip: Want to make everything run as fast as possible? Wait until you’ve completed all the other steps and schedule your timetable slots as your last step.
If you haven’t imported a timetable from TimeTabler, your courses will show that they don’t have lessons within 6. Registers section of the main New School Year Setup.
You’ll need to click into each course and schedule lessons in the Classes & Lessons section.
Once you’ve added lesson slots for all your courses, they won’t have any red text against them and you’ve finished this step.
Click back into option B. You can then mark this step as complete using the green button and move to the next step.
You can always import a new file by clicking Return to incomplete.
This step allows you to copy over the automatic enrolments that you had for Teaching Groups this academic year into the next academic year. The table will give you suggestions of the teaching group, and a class it thinks you would like to create an automatic enrolment into, so any student added to the teaching group can be automatically enrolled in the class.
Tick the box next to all the automatic enrolments you want to set up, then click the Bulk action button to select Bulk copy Course and Teaching Group mappings to the next academic year.
The automatic enrolments you’ve set up will then have a tick next to them.
To remove any automatic enrolments set up in error, tick the box next to all the teaching groups you want to not copy over to the next academic year, then click the Bulk action button to select Bulk delete copied Course and Teaching Group mappings from the next academic year.
To add any more automatic enrolments for next year, just click +Add.
Once you have completed any bulk copying, mark this step as complete using the green button and move to the next step.
You can always make further changes by clicking Return to incomplete.
In the middle column, you’ll see the teaching group you’ve copied over to next year. In the left-hand column, pick the Teaching Group from this year that you want to move into the teaching group for next year. For example, moving students from a Year 7 teaching group into the Year 8 teaching group for next year.
- If you don’t see all the teaching groups you want to copy over, you can always return to one of the previous steps.
- Notice how I don’t have teaching groups for year 7 - I’ll need to set these up in the next step.
Once you’ve chosen all the teaching groups, click the green Save button. Be sure you are ready to save as you can’t make any further changes to the groups you’ve copied over from here once you do.
This will then run in the background, so don't make any further changes. You can refresh your page to check if this is completed.
Once the teaching group enrolments have copied over, the table will show ticks next to these teaching groups.
Once you have completed any bulk copying, mark this step as complete using the green button and move to the next step.
You can always make further changes by clicking Return to incomplete.
If you want to manually enrol students into teaching groups you can use this step - it’s perfect for adding your Year 7 students into their new teaching groups.
Just click the teaching group, then click the More information button.
In the teaching group overview, click +Add in the Current and Future Members section.
Choose to add students, select the students then add them as members.
You can then return to School > School Structure > School Year Setup > Step 6 > B. Setup Courses, Classes & Timetable > 6. Manual Teaching Group Enrolments to mark this step as complete using the green button and move to the next step.
You can always make further changes by clicking Return to incomplete.
In the second column, you’ll see the course you’ve copied over to next year. In the left-hand column, pick the bottom-level course from this year that you want to move into the course for next year. For example, moving students from a Year 7 art class into the Year 8 art class for next year.
- If you don’t see all the courses you want to copy over, you can always return to step 2 and copy them over there.
- You may notice a link symbol in the middle column. This means there’s an automatic enrollment set up into that class, meaning you might not need to promote students.
- Notice how I don’t have classes for year 7 - I’ll need to set these up in the next step.
In the example below, as my Year 8 Set 1 class is automatically enrolled into English, and Year 7 Set 1 has been promoted into Year 8 Set 1 already, I won’t need to choose to promote the Year 7 class into the Year 8 one.
Once you’ve chosen all the classes, click the green Save button. Be sure you are ready to save as you can’t make any further changes to the groups you’ve copied over from here once you do.
This will then run in the background, so don't make any further changes. You can refresh your page to check if this is completed.
Once the enrolments have copied over, the table will show ticks next to these classes.
Once you have completed this, mark this step as complete using the green button and move to the next step.
You can always make further changes by clicking Return to incomplete.
If you haven’t set up automatic enrolments during step 4 and want to enrol students into courses you can either:
- import enrolments from TimeTabler’s Options area following these instructions: Importing Options from TimeTabler
- use step 8 - just click the course, then click the Enrol Students button.
In the slide over, select the students then enrol them.
Once you have completed this, mark this step as complete using the green button and move to the next step.
You can always make further changes by clicking Return to incomplete.
All your steps on the overview page should now be marked as complete (or skipped if you haven’t imported a timetable from TimeTabler).
Click Back to return to School > School Structure > School Year Setup > Step 6 to mark this as complete.
Option 2 (Recommended) - Import from TimeTabler, and manually enrol students
We recommend this option for schools with complex timetable requirements, large numbers of students or a large choice of courses, but who don’t want to copy over their teaching groups. To be able to use this option, you must first have generated a timetable file in TimeTabler to be imported into Arbor.
Importing your timetable
Click on option C to be taken to the Import Timetable page.
Follow the instructions in the Importing your TimeTabler file section of this article to import your timetable: Importing a timetable from TimeTabler
Enrolling your students
The next step is to enrol your students into this class, so they will appear on the registers.
- You can import enrolments from TimeTabler’s Options area following these instructions: Importing Options from TimeTabler
- If you don’t use Options, we recommend using our bulk enrolment page by going to Students > Enrolment > Courses > Bulk Enrolment. You can see how to enrol students into their registers from here following this guide: Bulk enrol students into lesson registers
Option 3 - Schedule from Registration Forms, then add classes manually
We recommend this option for schools that don’t use TimeTabler and don’t want to copy over teaching groups, or who don’t use teaching groups at all.
Setting up the classes
Once you’ve scheduled your registration sessions, you’ll need to set up your other classes. Make sure you have these pieces of information ready:
- What you will call the class and the subject name
- What room the class will be in
- Which teachers will be assigned to the class
- When the classes take place
You will also need to have a plan for how you intend to structure your courses and classes. There are a variety of models that can be applied when setting up courses from scratch, the key is determining which one is suitable for your school structure before you start to add them. In the example below, we'll be following Arbor's Recommended Course Structure.
Choose the option to Setup Courses & Classes from scratch.
A slide-over will appear where you need to enter information about the course/class you are setting up.
You can only select one year group per course you create. Leave the Year group field blank to be able to create sub-modules assigned to different year groups.
When all the details are correct, click on the green Add Course button.
This creates the course (the top-level component). The next step is to set up class groups if not all of your students will be in this lesson at the same time.
To do this, from the Course Overview, click +Add in the Modules section.
In the slide over add the name of the module and fill in the other details. In my example, year 7, 8 and 9 do this class so I’ll need to add a module for each. Select the year group then click the green Add Module button.
You will be taken to the module overview. You will then need to add a sub-module within this module by again clicking +Add in the Modules section.
In the slide over add the name of the module and fill in the other details. Then click the green Add Module button.
You will be taken to the module overview. To schedule lessons for this class, click +Add in the Classes & Lessons section.
You can then choose to schedule multiple regular lessons.
In the side over, select the days the lessons will run on, the time, effective dates, location, and the teacher. This ensures this person sees this lesson in their calendar.
Enrolling your students
The next step is to enrol your students into this class, so they will appear on the registers.
- You can import enrolments from TimeTabler’s Options area following these instructions: Importing Options from TimeTabler
- If you don’t use Options or TimeTabler, we recommend using our bulk enrolment page by going to Students > Enrolment > Courses > Bulk Enrolment. You can see how to enrol students into their registers from here following this guide: Bulk enrol students into lesson registers
Make sure you have registers for your first day back
If you don't have registers set up, your teachers won't be able to take attendance on your first day back! To check they've been set up, first take a look at when your registers should start. Go to School > School Structure > Academic Years, then select the upcoming academic year.
In the example below, the first day of the term is the 1st. However, as I have put the 1st as holiday days, the first day I need to take attendance is 4th of September.
Next, go to Students > Attendance > Registers By Date. Click the calendar icon, and select the first day your registers should exist for, then click Change Date.
If you've set up your registrations correctly, they should appear on this page! If they don't, and you're sure you haven't scheduled a holiday on this day, this means either:
- you haven't scheduled your timetable to start on the right date - you can see how to change this here: Editing timetable slots, lesson times, rooms and staff
- you haven't enrolled students in your Courses and Classes - you can see how to do this here: Bulk enrol students to add them into lesson registers
Mark as complete
When you are happy that this section is now complete, click the green Mark as Complete button.
If you wish to return to this step and make any changes, click the red Return to incomplete button.
You must click the Mark as Complete button again to save your changes and enable you to continue editing the all the next sections.
FAQ
I can't access this step because it is Locked
If this step is locked, you'll need to go back to these steps and mark them as complete by clicking Mark as Complete:
- Academic Calendar
- Year Groups and Registration Forms
- Custom Groups
How do we schedule different registration times for Week A and B?
When completing the first step to Set up registration form registers, it is only possible to choose one set of AM and PM times for registration.
If your school uses a two-week timetable, you will need to switch this on as Arbor defaults to a one-week timetable: Two-week timetable
Then you will need to schedule your registration registers differently:
- If you use TimeTabler or Edval, you will need to schedule your register times in your timetabling software, and import them into Arbor. You should not schedule these in Arbor.
- If you don't use Edval or TimeTabler, you will need to go to School > Programmes > Courses > Next year Courses, then select the registration form. From the Classes and Lessons section, click +Add and then Schedule Multiple Lessons.
Can we change the class or registration session names?
You can see how to do this here: Change registration form and lesson register name
Tidying up your registration structure for one-form years
When completing option A (Schedule Sessions from Registration Forms), this automatically created the registration form within a parent course for the year group. This means all of your class names can be quite long and repetitive if you only have one registration form within each year group.
To make your registration class the top-level module to simplify your setup, follow the instructions in this article: Tidying up your registration structure for one-form years
Can I reset this step?
Please see our guidance here: Can I reset a step in the New Year Setup?
What's next?
The next step in the New School Year Setup Process is to copy over or create Meals.
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