Primary school timetable software for the person everyone expects to make it work.
Bell Path builds and checks the weekly timetable for Australian primary schools, then runs each morning from it. It is for the school leader who builds the timetable, answers the questions about it, and would like fewer rewrites.
A 20-minute walkthrough with James Hooke, who owns Bell Path. Bring one awkward staffing constraint. No payment details, no obligation.
Five names for the same entitlement
APT
Additional planning time
Vic
Yard duty
RFF
Relief from face-to-face teaching
NSW
Playground duty
NCT
Non-contact time
Qld · NT
Playground duty
Qld only
DOTT
Duties other than teaching
WA · Tas
Yard duty
NIT
Non-instruction time
SA
Yard duty
You want software that already knows what a primary school week looks like.
Schools searching for this have often tried a tool built for secondary schools, where part-timers, job-shares and specialist rotations are treated as exceptions. In a primary school they are the normal case.
Primary schools need software that understands classroom teachers, specialist rotations, composite classes, part-time staff, and how closely staff read a timetable for fairness.
Bell Path takes you from setup to a published timetable in one place. It checks the result, keeps every version, and carries on after publishing with daily cover and yard duty.
It is built in Australia and uses each state’s words for planning time: APT in Victoria, RFF in NSW, NCT in Queensland and the NT, DOTT in WA and Tasmania, and NIT in SA.
What goes wrong without it.
Generic software makes you translate how your school works into its language.
Rooms, planning time and specialist cover still need fixing by hand after the "automatic" part is done.
The finished timetable feels fragile as soon as staff start asking questions.
What Bell Path does.
What it handles
- Guided setup that records agreements before they are forgotten
- Timetable building that respects your hard rules and shows you the trade-offs
- A check before publishing, saved versions, and staff handouts ready to print
- Teacher, class, room and summary views, all from the same timetable
- Planning time tracked and checked under your state's label (APT, RFF, DOTT, NIT or NCT)
- Daily cover, yard duty and wet day plans in the same place
- Published staff views plus supported requests, time-in-lieu claims, duty swaps, and notification preferences; timetable editing stays with the planner
Why schools choose Bell Path
- Australian-built, with privacy and security documentation ready for your procurement review
- Built around the assistant principal's workload
- Fairness problems show up before publishing, so there are fewer awkward staff conversations
- One record of agreements, exceptions and changes
- Handouts that look professional when shared with staff
Planning stories.
Composite examples of common planning situations, not reports from one school.
A timetable the assistant principal could defend before term started.
Every time one detail changed, the whole draft needed another night of checking. She entered the real rules into Bell Path once, then reviewed the result instead of rebuilding it.
Daily cover, yard duty and wet days kept in the one place.
Once the timetable was shared with staff, the school still jumped between tools every absence morning. Keeping cover, yard duty and wet day plans in Bell Path meant the week’s picture was already there.
FAQ
Questions schools ask before they start.
Does Bell Path replace spreadsheets completely?
That is the aim. Your agreements, timetable versions, handouts and daily cover live in one place instead of beside three open spreadsheets.
Is Bell Path only for timetable season?
No. After publishing it keeps working for daily cover, yard duty and wet day plans, and every saved version stays available.
Can Bell Path handle specialist-heavy primary schools?
Yes. Specialist rotations, planning time, meetings and room limits are part of the normal setup.
Which states does Bell Path support?
All of them. Bell Path uses each state's words in the product (APT in Victoria, RFF in NSW, NCT in Queensland and the NT, DOTT in WA and Tasmania, and NIT in SA), so planning time is tracked in the words your staff already use.
Does Bell Path work for secondary schools?
No. Bell Path is primary-only on purpose. Secondary timetabling (elective lines, subject selection, exam scheduling) is a different problem with different software.
Do I need a technical background?
No. Setup is a series of plain-language steps, and the timetable is checked for you.
Does Bell Path handle mid-year staffing changes?
Yes. You can update the staff arrangements and build the timetable again. Each build is saved as its own version, so you can look back at the timetable from before the change.
Can I try Bell Path before committing?
Yes. You can open the sample school and see a full week Bell Path built without signing up, take the guided tour, or contact us to talk through your school first.
Free guides.
Guides written for Australian primary school leaders. No sign-up required.
How to build a primary school timetable, step by step.
To build a primary school timetable, collect every staffing fact first, place planning time and specialist rotations before anything else, then check each teacher's week before staff see it. The order you make decisions in matters more than the tool you use. This guide walks through the order experienced timetablers follow, and the mistakes that cause a rebuild halfway through the term.
Planning time in primary schools: APT, RFF, NCT, DOTT and NIT.
Planning time is the weekly release from face-to-face teaching that every Australian primary teacher is entitled to. Victoria calls it APT, New South Wales RFF, Queensland and the Northern Territory NCT, Western Australia and Tasmania DOTT, and South Australia NIT. The name changes, but the problem is the same everywhere: release time must be delivered to the minute, every week, and someone must teach the class while you do.
How much does school timetabling software cost in Australia?
School timetabling software in Australia is usually priced per school per year, flat or tiered by enrolment, and many vendors quote only after a demo. Bell Path publishes its prices. This guide explains how the pricing works, where the hidden costs sit, and how to compare options, including staying on spreadsheets.
How to build a primary school specialist timetable.
A specialist timetable needs to fit each class's lessons, specialist teachers' working days and available rooms. It also determines when classroom teachers are released for planning. Start by checking that you have enough specialist teaching time. Then arrange the lessons around the release time teachers need, including any shared planning sessions. The example below shows how three specialists can release a three-class team at the same time.
Publish a timetable you can trust.
Send the timetable you already have and we load it within 48 hours, with Daily Cover free for two weeks. Building a new one? Setting up your school and previewing part of it is free.
A 20-minute walkthrough with James Hooke, who owns Bell Path. Bring one awkward staffing constraint. No payment details, no obligation.