Behind Hamber's Timetabling Process

Photo Credit: Ecobook

As the 2025/26 school year comes to a close, Hamber’s department heads, counsellors, and administrators have begun building the timetable for classes by choosing next year’s course offerings, based on students’ needs and funding requirements.

According to Ms. B. Panesar (English), a department head, the process begins with “a committee of department heads, administrators, and staff [representatives], and we look at what students have chosen.” From there, each department head receives a list of numbers outlining the courses that students have selected within their department.

“[Course selection] mostly comes down to whether or not students sign up for it […] that's the main thing, a class will only run if there are enough students to take it,” explained Mr. A. Stevens (Science), the head of Hamber’s science department.

Ultimately, the course-planning process varies between each department, said Mr. Stevens. According to him, it is up to the head of each department to determine which courses they offer next year. “So if for some reason, [the science department] decided we should not offer AP Chemistry next year, we could just remove it from the course planning booklet,” said Mr. Stevens. 

Department heads typically decide what courses they want their department to offer by considering factors such as student interest, teacher experience, and availability. Some departments purposely alternate their course offerings each year, providing for a more diverse offering of elective courses.

Once the timetable is built, students’ schedules are fully computer-generated. This randomization of courses is why counsellors say it is essential that students have their class selections confirmed by the deadline.

“The numbers dictate how many classes run in the school […] that's why it's very important to have your selections confirmed before a certain date,” explained Mr. A. Kwok (Counselling). 

In June, counsellors receive a first draft of student timetables from the course-selection system, and they look at scheduling conflicts and review students' specific requests, making changes when necessary. 

In September, after students have received their schedules, counsellors receive course requests through an online form in the first week of the month and take in-person requests, as well. 

The course-change process in September is often challenging for counsellors and students, as it is not easy to accommodate everyone’s specific needs.

“When we make a change, it's like [a] puzzle; we can really only move one piece at a time,” Mr. Kwok said.

Handling course requests is a complicated process, as class spots must be allocated based on the number of requests per course, the number of teachers available, and the number of rooms available. This is especially applicable to speciality classes that require specific spaces, such as Foods, Metalwork, and Electronics.

Ultimately, when it comes to course changes in the fall, counsellors prioritize needs over wants. As such, requests for classes needed to fulfill graduation or university entrance requirements are prioritized. 

“[Students often] think that they have to be the first person in line to get what they want. That doesn't always work because there's a lot of movement happening. It's changing minute by minute. So, it's a game of luck. Right? You have to be in the right place. And more often than not, we are able to give students what they want. It just requires patience,” explained Ms. N. Sandhu (Counselling).

Additionally, when it comes to student requests, it’s practically impossible to curate custom timetables for students. This includes students requesting to be placed in a certain teacher’s class.

“We avoid these issues with a school policy of not allowing [specific] requests unless the student has had the teacher before [… but] we are happy to have conversations about it on an individual basis,” said Mr. Kwok.

The counsellors advise that if students want to end up with their ideal timetable come fall, it’s important that during course planning time in the winter, they have a very good idea of what they want to take and don’t modify their requests. This can include doing some preliminary research into courses and university program requirements, particularly for senior students.

“At the same time, we recognize that it's challenging to choose in January […] that's hard to do when you've not had semester two classes, another glitch in the semester system, right? And yet it's got to be the best guess possible,” said Ms. J. Henning (Counselling).

Students are not the only ones anticipating their timetables for next year. “Normally, [the departments] take into account what teachers want and are able to teach […] but often, it comes back to how many of each course is available that year,” said Mr. Stevens. From there, if there is something else they wish to teach, department heads look to see if there is additional availability, for example, if another teacher is retiring, leaving, or can teach in a different department.

Recently, course planning has undergone several important changes. Ms. Panesar reflected on her past 20 years of helping plan events, sharing that one aspect of course planning that has changed significantly is class cutoff limits.

“In the past, it used to be [around] 18, 20, or 22 students,” she stated. This year, the cutoff for class size is 25, meaning that if less than 25 students are enrolled for a course, it will not run.

“In a perfect world, 28 kids sign up for a class, and that class will run. This year, though, the [school] board has […] created a timeline that we have to follow,” Ms. Panesar explained. The timeline is set to prioritize student numbers in classes, as having full classes with large student populations is a main focus for administrators overseeing timetable building.

Changes to provincial graduation requirements have also resulted in differences in course selection within Hamber’s student body. For example, the English department has seen a great increase in the number of students enrolled in English First Peoples Writing 10 and Literary Studies 10. 

The course was introduced during the 2023/24 school year in response to the Indigenous-Focused Graduation Requirement, first put into effect that year, which stipulates that all students must complete four credits in Indigenous-focused coursework in order to receive their Dogwood Diploma.

As Hamber’s school population has increased since the move into the new building, the counsellors have faced increased complications in the course planning process.

“In the old school, you would have approximately 1,550 kids, and this school is now well over 1700 […] so we're close to 200 kids more in this school. So that makes difficulties there,” explained Mr. C. Smith (Counselling). 

Furthermore, the counsellors find that the semester system causes additional complications when it comes to course planning.

“The semester system complicates the timetable because students want balance,” said Ms. Sandhu. “They don't want all their hard courses in one semester, but it's not always possible to move things around.”