Timetable, breaks and A/B weeks

The timetable shows which period is when – with rooms, notes and, if needed, A and B weeks. On a computer, you see the whole week as a grid; on a phone, you swipe through the days.

The time grid

When periods start and end comes from the grid in the school profile: school start time, the length of a period, and the breaks (say, 20 minutes after period 2). From this, patchio works out the times for every period.

You set the grid once during setup. You can change it any time via “Settings” at the top right of the School module – it's there under “Period grid”. If there's no grid yet at all, the timetable stays empty, and the “Set up period grid” button takes you straight there.

If this shifts the times, patchio warns you beforehand if periods already entered no longer fit any period slot – they then disappear from the weekly grid but stay saved.

Edit mode

Normally, the timetable is view-only – so nobody changes anything on the finished plan by accident. To change it, tap “Edit timetable” at the top right. Then the subject bar appears above the grid, and the periods become clickable. “Done” closes edit mode again; it also closes as soon as you leave the page.

Whoever has the “Manage school” permission for the household sees this button – and the child themselves, for their own timetable. Everyone else in the household sees the timetable but can't change it; for them, the path to the period grid is hidden too.

Putting subjects into the grid

In edit mode, all subjects and clubs sit above the plan as coloured chips. That lets you fill a whole week in a few seconds:

1. Tap a subject – the chip is now active (it gets an outline).
2. Tap the periods – each tap places the subject in that period, with the times from the grid. Tap an occupied period, and the subject there gets replaced.
3. Tap the active chip again to put it back down.

On a computer, you can also drag a chip straight into a period instead.

The eraser clears things up: tap it, then tap the periods that should go. If a subject is missing, add it right here via “New subject” – it's active immediately afterwards.

Newly set periods belong to the week you're currently viewing: with A/B weeks, that's week A or B, otherwise every week.

A period in detail

For anything beyond “which subject”, there's still the detail dialogue: in edit mode, tap a period without an active chip – or tap “Add lesson”. There, you choose:

• Subject or club – as a coloured chip; the colour helps you spot the subject at a glance.
• Day and from/to period – for a double period, just set “to” one period further, and it runs across both slots.
• Week – only if the school has A/B weeks: every week, only A, or only B.
• Room and note – a different room than usual, or a reminder like “swimming kit”. This exact note is also what the school bag reminder reads out later.

Clubs sit in the timetable like subjects, but don't get grades.

Changes apply immediately. So it's best to enter the new half-year's plan calmly, at the weekend.

Adjacent periods with the same lesson

patchio shows two neighbouring periods of the same subject as one lesson in the overview – “1.–2.” instead of two rows. Room and note travel with it: if they match (the same, or one of them empty), the block carries them. A different room, a different A/B week, or a different subject at the same time (split classes) stay separate, though.

If you extend a period over a matching neighbouring period – say, you drag “to” from period 3 to period 4 while the same subject is already sitting there –, that neighbouring period merges into it: patchio tells you so beforehand with a calm note in the dialogue, then clears away the old single period on its own once you save. Exactly one period is left afterwards – nothing is lost – as long as room and note match (the same, or one of them empty). If the neighbouring period has a different room or a different note, it stays its own period, so that information doesn't disappear.

In edit mode, you still see every period on its own – painting, erasing and tapping need the individual cell.

A and B weeks

If the timetable alternates weekly, you turn on A/B weeks – during setup, or later any time via “Settings” → “Period grid” – and give a Monday that was, or is, an A week. From there, patchio counts through: A, B, A, B … At the top of the timetable, it shows which week is currently running, and you can switch between A and B to see both plans.

The check-in chip after the holidays

Some schools reset the A/B count after the holidays. patchio, by contrast, keeps counting stubbornly from the set Monday – the offset would otherwise only show up once your child is standing at school with the wrong kit.

So, on the first school day after each holiday block, patchio asks exactly once: “First week after the Herbstferien: patchio counts it as week A – is that right?” If it's right, you tap “Looks right”. If not, choose “No, week B”, and patchio shifts the count by one week. If you only open the app a few days later, the question is still there until the end of that first school week. It comes once per holiday block; after that, it's settled.

A holiday block means the holidays themselves. A public holiday right after the holidays (in Baden-Württemberg, for example, Reformation Day after the autumn holidays) belongs to the same block; a single day off in the middle of term, such as Maundy Thursday or the Day of Prayer and Repentance, doesn't trigger the question – no school restarts its count after one of those.

Printing

“Print” gets you the timetable ready to hang up: one sheet per child, and a separate sheet per week for A/B weeks. Before printing you choose a design (squared paper, blackboard, space, animals, plain or no picture), the intensity (“Light” saves ink) and the format, A4 landscape or portrait; a preview of the sheet appears below. Subject colours are soft tints with the subject name written out, breaks get their own row, double periods are a single block, and there is space for notes at the bottom. So the plan stays readable even in black and white. Printing happens straight through your browser – nothing leaves the device. patchio remembers your choice.