This article will look at manually building a course hierarchy in Arbor. You'll need to do this if either:
- you are setting up a new set of courses from scratch
- you have already migrated to Arbor with some courses that don't fit into an existing course structure. For more details on the timetable migration process, see this article: Migrating your Timetable
In this guidance we'll refer to the different levels as top-level, mid-level and bottom-level courses. Each level is a 'module' or 'component of' the level above it. For more detail, please see our Timetabling Glossary.
Top Tip: This guidance is aimed at schools with complex structures, such as Secondaries, All-throughs and Post-16 providers. If you're a Primary School, you would usually only set up registration form lessons, as shown here: Registration forms
Setting up your whole timetable and course hierarchy
From scratch in Arbor
Complete the instructions below in the Setting up the Course Structure from scratch section. Repeat this process for each course until you have a full course structure.
From scratch in one of our timetabling partners' systems to import
Please follow our guidance here:
It isn't possible to import a timetable from other timetabling software providers, so you would need to use Arbor, TimeTabler or Edval.
For the next academic year
You won't need to set up from scratch. Follow our New School Year Setup process to copy over your courses from this year into next year: New School Year Setup guide
Building one new course
This process can be used to add new courses to your existing structure, such as if you begin running a course in Spring term.
Set up your course hierarchy
To start building your course structure, go to School > Programmes > Courses, selecting the desired academic year.
Click the green Add button, and use the slide over menu to create your top-level course.
You can set the Subject for the top-level course at this point, and it will then feed through to any mid and bottom-level courses that are created. Click Add Course to create the course.
- The top-level course will then be created, and you'll be taken into the Overview page.
- You can also get here by going to School > Programmes > Courses, and selecting the top-level course.
Scroll down and click Add next to Modules.
Use the slide over to add in your mid-level course, for example, Year 10. You can set the Year Group for the mid-level course at this point, and it will feed through to the bottom-level courses we will create under Year 10. Click Add Module.
- You'll then be taken into the mid-level course.
- You can also get here by going to School > Programmes > Courses, clicking the + next to the course name, and selecting the mid-level course.
Scroll down and click Add next to Modules.
This time use the slide over to create your bottom-level course - this will be the actual class where students will have their registers taken. Here you can add the Academic Lead, the main teacher for the class.
You'll be taken to the bottom-level course overview.
Once the class has been created, return to the mid-level course. Either:
- click Component of > More Information
- go to School > Programmes > Courses, clicking the + next to the course name, and selecting the mid-level course.
Repeat Step 3 to create all the bottom-level courses that sit under the mid-level course.
You can check your structure from School > Programmes > Courses by clicking the + next to the top-level course name.
Once you've created all bottom-level courses under the mid-level course, return to the top-level course. Go to School > Programmes > Courses and select the top-level course.
Repeat the previous steps to create another set of mid and bottom-level courses.
You can check your structure from School > Programmes > Courses by clicking the + next to the top-level course name.
Scheduling registers and adding students
I order to be able to take attendance for courses, and do other things such as record behaviour an assessments, you need to make sure you have also added timetable slots and students.
Schedule your registers:
- You can import these from TimeTabler or Edval.
- Alternatively, you can see how to do this in Arbor here: Classes and Lessons
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 TimeTabler or don't use their Options feature, 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
Moving existing bottom-level courses into a new course structure
If you've migrated to Arbor with some bottom-level courses that exist outside of a course structure, you'll need to follow a different set of steps to set up the structure and move the courses into it.
Go to School > Programmes > (Academic Year) Courses & Classes, selecting the desired academic year.
Click the green Add button, and use the slide over menu to create your top-level course.
You can set the Subject for the top-level course at this point, and it will then feed through to any mid and bottom-level courses that are created. Click Add Course to create the course.
- The top-level course will then be created, and you'll be taken into the Overview page.
- You can also get here by going to School > Programmes > Courses, and selecting the top-level course.
Scroll down and click Add next to Modules.
Use the slide over to add in your mid-level course, for example, Year 10. You can set the Year Group for the mid-level course at this point, and it will feed through to the bottom-level courses we will create under Year 10. Click Add Module.
Click Component of > More Information to return to the top-level course.
Repeat until all required mid level courses are created. Do not create any bottom-level courses.
Go back to School > Programmes > Courses, then click into one of your bottom-level courses that you want to move into the newly created hierarchy.
Click on Component of: Nothing - top level component. In the slide over, use the drop-down menu to select the required mid level course as a parent, then click Move to New Parent Component.
Go back to School > Programmes > Courses and repeat for each bottom-level course that needs moving into the hierarchy.
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