Enrolment and transition – Class Builder

Class Builder is TrackEd’s tool for building balanced classes from a cohort. You choose the students, the number of classes and how much each measure should count (NAPLAN, subject results, absences, behaviour and more), and Class Builder can produce a gender balanced even set of classes. From there you move students between classes using what you know about them, with live stats showing the effect of every change.

It works for any year level, is especially helpful for Year 6 to 7 transition, subject classes, streamed classes and composite classes across two year levels. You can run as many allocations as you like, add to them as new students enrol, and build ClassMats from them before the new timetable is live.

In this article

Detailed Guide

Opening Class Builder

There are two ways in. On the Profile page, open the pink Reports menu and click the pink Class Builder button. Or, from the Home page, go to Report Quick Links, choose Other Reports, pick a cohort, then choose Class Builder.

Class Builder opens with two options: create a new allocation, or revisit a prior allocation. An allocation is one set of classes, so you might keep one for next year’s Year 7s and another for a Year 9 maths line.

Starting a new allocation or returning to one

Class allocation rarely happens in one sitting, so Class Builder keeps every allocation you make. Choose revisit a prior allocation to see the full list, or select a cohort to narrow it down, then choose show this allocation to pick up where you left off.

Two other buttons sit alongside. Add new students brings in anyone imported since the allocation was built (see Adding late enrolments and new classes). Duplicate allocation makes a copy you can experiment with, leaving the original allocation untouched.

Creating a new allocation is a three step process. The rest of this guide follows those steps in order.

Choosing which students to include

Step one starts with an allocation name and an allocation memo. A short, consistent name makes the allocation easy to find later, for example 2027.07 for next year’s Year 7 classes. Use the memo for anything else staff should know about it.

Next, choose how students are added. The default is to select a cohort. When you do, you can also paste a list of student IDs to exclude, such as students already placed in a support class, a streamed class or another reserved class. Alternatively, paste a list of student IDs to include, or use the Find Panel to pull up any group you can search for: particular roll classes, tagged students, or the students in one line so you can allocate a line at a time.

Setting the number of classes and preset classes

Set the number of classes to create, and Class Builder shows the approximate class size. A cohort of 148 students split into six classes comes out at roughly 25 students per class.

If some students need to go into a particular class regardless of the balance, tick yes for preset classes. On the right hand side, give each preset class a name and paste in the student IDs for that class. Class Builder reserves those students into their classes and builds the remaining classes from everyone else. Typical preset classes are a support class, a streamed or excellence class, or a sporting excellence class.

Choosing a sort option

Step two decides how Class Builder places students. For most allocations, choose the second option, weighted average distributed, gender balanced (most control). It spreads students evenly across the classes using weightings you set, and it gives you the most control over the result.

The other options cover streaming by a weighted average, random placement, and building classes from a single measure such as NAPLAN numeracy, English subject results or GPA. They are listed in the Reference section below.

Setting weightings

Weightings are where your priorities for the classes come in. When you choose the weighted average distributed option, step three appears on the right hand side. Enter a number against each measure for how much you want it to count. The numbers do not need to add up to anything in particular, because Class Builder treats them as a ratio. Making them add up to 100 is handy, though, because each one then reads as a percentage.

A reasonable starting point is half the weighting on academic measures, a quarter on absences and a quarter on behaviour. Adjust from there to suit your cohort. Finding the right mix is often trial and error: try a few weighting combinations, build the classes each time, and keep the one that gives you the best starting point.

Under the hood, Class Builder sorts female students from the highest weighted score to the lowest, and all other students from the lowest to the highest. Each round, every class takes a pick from the top and the bottom, which produces even classes and a good gender balance at the same time.

Keeping students apart and spreading support needs

Two checkboxes in step three handle the placements that matter most before any weighting is applied. Consider social negative uses the keep apart interactions recorded on the Social Interactions list view (see Social Interactions). When it is ticked, Class Builder places students with negative interactions first, spreading those interactions across the classes as well as it can. It cannot always build classes with no negative interactions at all, but it keeps them to a minimum.

Spread DDA Extensive Plus to Substantial sorts students by DDA level (Extensive Plus, then Extensive, then Substantial) and places them one at a time into each class, so support needs are shared across several classes rather than concentrated in one.

With both ticked, Class Builder places the social negative students first, then the DDA students, then uses your weightings to distribute everyone else. When the settings are ready, click Continue at the bottom of the page to build the classes.

Moving students between classes

The built classes are a starting point for your professional judgement, not the final answer. Class Builder shows two classes at a time, class A on the left (section one) and class B on the right (section two). The class list on the right hand edge lets you pick any class to show in either section, and you can rename a class there by typing over its name. An unallocated class also appears in the list. With the weighted average options it starts empty.

Each student has a right or left arrow button that moves them across to the other class on screen. To find a particular student, type all or part of their name into the name search in the right hand class and press Enter. If there is only one match, Class Builder opens that student’s class on the right and highlights them in blue, ready to move. A common pattern is to search for a friend, move them into the class on the left, then move a different student back to keep the numbers even.

Lock a student to keep them in their current class. Each student also has two notes boxes: one for the student’s custom fields notes, and one that belongs to Class Builder only.

Reading the class view

Each class shows the information you need to judge a placement without leaving the page. Alongside the student’s name are gender, ATSI, EALD, OOHC, DDA, DDA category, DDA level and the PLP flag, then NAPLAN results, English, Maths and Science results, effort, behaviour, and absence and behaviour totals. Further columns show a learning support count (when needs have been entered on the enrolment interview panel), social positive and social negative counts, the feeder school (when recorded in the enrolment interview, see Enrolment Interviews) and the house.

The social counts are colour coded. A green social positive means friends you want to keep together are in the same class. A red social negative means students you want to keep apart are together. A grey count means the linked students are in other classes; hover over it to see which ones.

Checking balance with live stats

The stats at the bottom of the page tell you straight away whether a move has improved or worsened the balance. They update in real time as you move students or change which classes are showing, for both classes on screen.

Each class shows its total student count, a NAPLAN breakdown (upper two bands, middle, bottom two bands), English, Maths and Science results as A to E counts, GPA, effort and behaviour averages, absence and behaviour counts, learning support, social positive and social negative counts, and the percentages of male, female, ATSI, EALD, OOHC and DDA students.

Adding late enrolments and new classes

New enrolments keep arriving after the first build. Once you have imported them with the Student Summary import (see Importing future students), they are in TrackEd but not yet in your allocation. Click the pink Add Students button on the right hand edge, and Class Builder finds any students missing from the current allocation and places them in the unallocated class, ready to move into a class.

Also on the right hand edge, New Class creates an empty class (with a name, memo and description) that you can move students into, and Label Classes lists every class so you can retype the names in one place. Exit and Save closes the allocation.

Speeding up the class view

If Class Builder runs slowly, use the speed selector at the top middle of the page. The detailed view, described above, shows every field, colour and statistic. Medium speed removes many of the statistics and colour codes. Fast speed shows only student names and a couple of OneSchool fields, which suits moving students you already know between classes.

Building allocations in stages

When your class structure is too complex for one pass, with lines, ability streams, sporting programs, support programs or extension programs running side by side, build it in stages. For example, build a streamed allocation first, then export it to Excel and copy the IDs of the students you have already placed.

Then create a new allocation that either excludes those students (paste the IDs into the exclude list in step one) or reserves them into preset classes, and let Class Builder distribute the rest. Repeat for as many stages as you need.

Composite classes across two year levels

For a composite class, build each year level separately, then combine them. Using a Year 5 and 6 composite as the example, build the Year 5 classes with a smaller group for the composite, and the Year 6 classes the same way. Then use the move class to a different allocation button in the class list on the right hand edge to move the Year 5 composite group into the Year 6 allocation (or the other way round) and combine the two groups. The composite class then appears together in one allocation, in one class list, and on next year’s ClassMats.

There are two ways to form the composite group within each year level. With four full classes and one part class, for example, you can build four (overfull) even classes, create an empty new class for the composite, and work through the four classes picking the composite students, then rebalance the four. Or build five classes, choose one as the composite class, and move students back into the other four until the numbers are right. Either way, form the group before you merge it with the other year level.

Reference

Sort options

The step two options, for when the weighted average distributed option is not what you need.

Weighting options

What you can weight in step three, and whether it is available for students who have just been imported.

Class list versions

The Class List button along the top edge offers seven versions (This Class Only gives a list for a single class).

Sharing your classes with staff

Once the classes look right, the class lists can be printed, saved as PDF or emailed to staff, and you can open student profiles straight from Class Builder. Export to Excel offers a simple version (students per class with their IDs and the weighted score used to place them) and a detailed version with most of the fields on the page.

Create ClassMats, on the right hand edge, builds ClassMat reports from the current classes even before your new timetable is live, so teachers can get to know next year’s classes early. See ClassMat for setting them up.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do my weightings need to add up to 100?
A: No. Class Builder treats them as a ratio, so only their relative size matters. Totalling 100 is optional but makes each weighting easy to read as a percentage.

Q: Why do my incoming students have no GPA or PAT values to weight?
A: GPA, EPA, BPA, PAT-M and PAT-R come from data built up in TrackEd over time, which newly imported students do not have yet. Weight them on NAPLAN, subject results, absences, behaviour or the Other 1 to Other 4 fields instead.

Q: A student enrolled after I built the classes. How do I add them?
A: Import them with the Student Summary import, saving the OneSchool export with both futures and active students selected (see Importing future students). Then open the allocation and click Add Students to place them in the unallocated class.

Q: Can I try a different arrangement without losing the classes I have?
A: Yes. Use Duplicate allocation on the Class Builder start page and experiment on the copy. The original allocation is not affected.

Q: Will Consider social negative stop every keep apart pair ending up together?
A: Not always. It places those students first and spreads the interactions as well as it can, but some may still share a class. Look for red social negative counts in the class view and adjust by hand.

Q: Can teachers see next year’s classes before the timetable is ready?
A: Yes. Create ClassMats builds ClassMat reports from the current allocation, and the class lists can be printed or emailed at any stage.

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