One timetable across two campuses increases Year 11 preferences received by 220 per cent

6.5km as the crow flies and a 10-minute bus ride apart, Denison College’s Bathurst High and Kelso High campuses are maximising opportunities and meeting the individual needs of students thanks to a timetabling partnership with Edval Education.

The newly implemented technology has also improved the College’s use of resources and better balanced classes for improved teacher workload.

Established in 2007, Denison College of Secondary Education is an amalgamation of Bathurst High School and Kelso High School. The total enrolment last year was 1834, with 1075 studying at the Bathurst campus and 759 at the Kelso campus.

From the outset, the goal has been to offer a diverse and broad senior curriculum, with Year 11 and 12 students given more course options across the two campuses. However, the College’s previous manual timetabling system, which prioritised students based on the campus they attended, meant some students missed out.

The adoption of Edval’s specially designed Shared Lines Feature has had a significant and positive impact on student subject selections for Year 11 this year.

Moving from two campus timetables to one Denison College timetable has meant that more students than ever before are receiving their subject preferences and has had a significant impact on student subject selections for Year 11, 2020.

Compared to shared lines organised for 2019, 90 students in Year 11 will access shared courses in 2020, seeing an increase of 220 per cent. These students will be joining the 28 Year 12 students already studying shared courses.

The Edval software ensures every subject on the shared lines is made far more available to students at both campuses, enabling students be prioritised for the subjects based on their preference ranking.

The increase in students getting their choices through this clever algorithm has also improved the use of school resources, with the bus used to move students between campuses now at 100 per cent capacity, compared to previous years at 68 per cent. 

Chris Cooper, Edval Founder and Director of Innovation said Denison College is the first school Edval has partnered with to develop software addressing a particular school need.

“It is wonderful to work with such engaged school teams, using the latest technology for the benefit of students,” said.

“Due to the success at Denison College, Edval will be releasing the revolutionary Shared Lines feature commercially to other schools in 2020.”

In preparation for implementing the single Denison College timetable in Term 1 this year, the College organised a shared course orientation event in week eight of Term 4 last year.

Students caught the shared course bus to their sister campus to become familiar with the surroundings and meet fellow students and staff.

Relieving Denison College Principal Mick Sloan said “Thanks to the software that Edval has created, more students than ever before are able to do the subjects they want. For the first time, students from either campus can access any subject that is timetabled on a shared line, based on their preferences, regardless of the campus they attend, or which campus the course is delivered from.

“This is really important for our students, to set them up for success in their senior years and beyond.”

Denison College Shared Lines case study (URL https://www.edval.education/blog/case-studies/denisoncollege/)