I have been using Nova for over a decade now and have built many a timetable using the software. I have also been training others on how to use Nova for a good few years as well. However, with the ESS 3 year licence situation happening over the last 6 months or so this has led to quite a few secondary schools moving to other MIS providers.
The most popular MIS that schools switch to is Arbor (this blog gives brilliant analysis of the MIS market in the UK- https://bringmoredata.blogspot.com/ ) and Arbor doesn’t link to Nova. This means that secondary schools are re-assessing how they produce their timetable. In my view there are a couple of options;
- Complete the timetable in Nova (if you still have a licence to use it) and then try and replicate this in Arbor. The theory being that you know it works as it scheduled in Nova and you can then manually add it to Arbor.
- Try and make the timetable directly in Arbor. I would not recommend doing this!! The larger the school, and the more complex the timetable the harder this becomes. If you are a small PRU or special school and have a spreadsheet and you know the timetable works, then maybe!
- Use a different piece of timetabling software, such as Timetabler or Edval, and then import this into Arbor.
Now it needs to be said here that even if you use SIMS you can still use Timetabler or Edval as well. They both integrate with SIMS.
In my view the software is fluid. What do i mean by this? I mean that if you understand how to put a timetable together then you will be able to get your head around the software. There are some changes in terminology, and there are functionality differences, but the principles are the same.
From what i have seen though timtabler looks very interesting and offers quite a lot of flexibility combined with a logical approach to constructing the timetable. Therefore my message would be; If you are moving to another MIS and have to use something different, embrace the change and know that you will mange just fine.
If you want any support with timetabling then please get in contact, whether that is with NOVA or timetabler.