Why I Re-Designed My Son’s Year 7 Timetable

One of my sons started Year 7 last Friday, and like most parents I was keen to see what his new timetable looked like. When I unfolded the sheet, my first reaction was sheer disbelief. The entire two-week timetable had been crammed onto less than a page of A4, printed in what must have been size 3 or 4 font. I promise I’m not exaggerating.

He had been told to copy it into his planner by hand. For a dyslexic child, whose handwriting is already difficult to read, that’s an unnecessary hurdle. Even for me, with 20/20 vision when I wear my contact lenses, the timetable was almost impossible to decipher. I actually had to take a photo and enlarge it on my laptop before I could work out what it said. How are dyslexic students meant to access something like this independently?

It made me think back to my own teaching days. I taught English in a secondary school for ten years, finishing in 2011. Back then, every student was issued with a pocket-sized timetable. Mine was not exactly beautifully presented — as you can see in the photo, my colouring-in skills left a lot to be desired! — but at least it was clear and easy to read. By Christmas, most were worn out from months of living in blazer pockets, but they did the job. I had hoped that timetabling software would have moved forwards in the last decade, not backwards.

So, I spent my Saturday evening re-creating my son’s timetable in Excel. I colour-coded the lessons so it’s easy to see at a glance, and I added a clear layout that actually makes sense. I also created a blank version, with all details changed, so that other parents or students can use it too.

The template is free. You can:

  • glue a copy straight into a planner

  • use a smaller laminated version, hole-punched and kept on a key ring

  • make use of the extra space to record teacher names in a colour-coded list that matches the timetable

How to get it: sign up to my newsletter below, and I’ll send the download to you as a thank-you.

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Sometimes the smallest tweaks can make a big difference to accessibility.