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Learning Centre Management

Learning centres are your classrooms in Zion - the organizational units where students are grouped and supervisors work. This guide covers creating centres, assigning supervisors, managing capacity, and deactivating centres when needed.

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Learning Centre Overview

What Is a Learning Centre:

• Organizational unit representing a classroom
• Has a name (e.g., “Faith Centre”, “Grace Centre”)
• Contains students assigned to that classroom
• Has one or more assigned supervisors
• Optional capacity limit (max students)

Why Learning Centres Matter:

• Organize students into manageable groups
• Scope supervisor access (supervisors only see their centres)
• Enable centre-level reporting and analysis
• Structure your school in Zion to match physical layout

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Creating Learning Centres

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Before You Create Centres

Planning Questions:

1. How many physical classrooms do you have?
2. How will you group students (by age, grade, ability)?
3. What naming convention will you use?
4. What’s the max capacity per centre?
5. Which staff will supervise each centre?

Typical School Setup:

• Small school (50 students): 3-5 centres
• Medium school (100 students): 6-10 centres
• Large school (200+ students): 10-15 centres

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Step-by-Step: Creating a Centre

Estimated Time: 1 minute per centre (5-10 minutes for whole school)

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Centre Details Explained

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Centre Name

• Required: Yes
• Format: Free text, 50 characters max
• Examples: “Faith Centre”, “Grace Centre”, “Hope Learning Centre”, “Level 1 Classroom”
• Best Practice: Short, distinct, easy to remember
• Appears: All reports, dashboards, student assignments, supervisor views

Naming Conventions: Christian-Inspired Names (Most Common in ACE Schools):

• Virtues: Faith, Hope, Love, Joy, Peace, Grace, Mercy, Compassion
• Biblical Figures: Joshua, David, Esther, Ruth, Daniel, Samuel, Lydia, Deborah
• Biblical Concepts: Cornerstone, Foundation, Promise, Covenant, Harvest, Vine, Living Water

Level-Based Names:

• “Foundation Centre” (younger students)
• “Intermediate Centre” (middle grades)
• “Advanced Centre” (older students)

Color-Coded Names:

• “Red Centre”, “Blue Centre”, “Green Centre”, “Yellow Centre”

Simple Numbering:

• “Centre 1”, “Centre 2”, “Centre 3”

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Description

• Required: No
• Format: Free text, 200 characters max
• Use Cases: Notes about centre purpose, student age range, special focus
• Examples:
  • “Primary students ages 6-8”
  • “Advanced Math students, grades 9-12”
  • “Remedial support centre for struggling students”
• Appears: Centre detail page (not in reports)

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Capacity

• Required: No
• Format: Positive number (e.g., 25)
• Meaning: Maximum number of students that can be assigned to this centre
• Enforcement: Zion warns (but doesn’t prevent) when assigning students beyond capacity
• Best Practice: Set based on physical space and supervisor capability
• Typical Values:
  • Small centres: 10-15 students
  • Standard centres: 20-25 students
  • Large centres: 30-35 students (requires multiple supervisors)

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Bulk Centre Creation

Scenario: Creating 8 centres at once during initial setup Efficient Approach:

1. List centre names in a document first (Faith, Hope, Love, Joy, Peace, Grace, Truth, Wisdom)
2. Open Create Centre form
3. Create first centre with full details (name, description, capacity)
4. Keep form open in one tab
5. Create remaining centres quickly (name + capacity only)
6. Add descriptions later if needed

Time Saved: 5-10 minutes for 8 centres vs doing one at a time

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Assigning Supervisors to Centres

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Why Supervisor Assignment Matters

Access Control:

• Supervisors only see data for their assigned centres
• Prevents information overload
• Ensures privacy and data security

Reporting:

• Centre reports show supervisor name
• Tracks accountability
• Enables supervisor performance evaluation

Flexibility:

• One supervisor can be assigned to multiple centres
• One centre can have multiple supervisors
• Easy to change assignments

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Assigning Supervisors

Estimated Time: 30 seconds per centre

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Supervisor Assignment Scenarios

Scenario 1: One Supervisor, One Centre

• Most common setup
• Faith Centre → Supervisor Sarah
• Clear ownership, simple accountability

Scenario 2: One Supervisor, Multiple Centres

• Faith Centre → Supervisor Sarah
• Hope Centre → Supervisor Sarah
• Used when: Small school, part-time supervisors, or supervisor manages multiple groups
• Sarah sees data for both Faith and Hope centres in her dashboard

Scenario 3: Multiple Supervisors, One Centre

• Faith Centre → Supervisor Sarah AND Supervisor John
• Used when: Large centre (30+ students), morning/afternoon shifts, or co-teaching
• Both Sarah and John see Faith Centre data

Scenario 4: Floating Supervisor

• Assign to all centres for oversight
• Used for: Lead supervisors, administrators who work hands-on, substitute coverage

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Changing Supervisor Assignments

Mid-Year Reassignment:

1. Navigate to centre detail page
2. Click “Manage Supervisors”
3. Uncheck old supervisor, check new supervisor
4. Save

Effect:

• Old supervisor immediately loses access to centre data
• New supervisor immediately gains access
• Historical data preserved (shows who was responsible when)

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Managing Centre Capacity

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Setting Capacity Limits

Factors to Consider: Physical Space:

• Desks available: 25 desks = 25 capacity
• Room size and safety regulations
• ACE Office requirements (typically 1 office per 10 students)

Supervisor Workload:

• One supervisor: 15-20 students ideal, 25 max
• Two supervisors: 30-40 students possible
• More than 40: Consider splitting into two centres

Student Needs:

• Younger students (K-4): Lower capacity (15-20)
• Older students (5-12): Higher capacity possible (25-30)
• Special needs students: Significantly lower capacity

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Capacity Warnings

When assigning students to a centre at/over capacity:

• Zion displays warning: “Centre at capacity (25/25). Add student anyway?”
• You can proceed (capacity is advisory, not enforced)
• Warning helps prevent accidental overcrowding

Best Practice: Review capacity quarterly and redistribute students if centres are unbalanced

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Rebalancing Students Between Centres

Scenario: Faith Centre has 30 students, Hope Centre has 12 students Steps to Rebalance:

1. Identify students to move (perhaps 8-10 students)
2. Navigate to each student’s profile
3. Change “Assigned Centre” from Faith to Hope
4. Save
5. Repeat for remaining students

Result: Faith has 20-22, Hope has 20-22 (balanced)

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Deactivating Learning Centres

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When to Deactivate a Centre

Common Scenarios:

• Enrollment decreased (don’t need as many centres)
• School restructuring (combining centres)
• Physical classroom no longer available
• Centre was created by mistake

What Happens When Deactivated:

• Centre hidden from active centre lists
• Cannot assign new students to deactivated centre
• Historical data preserved and accessible
• Can reactivate later if needed

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Deactivation Prerequisites

Before deactivating, you MUST:

1. Reassign all students - Deactivated centres cannot have active students
2. Generate final reports - Ensure all centre reports are generated and saved
3. Unassign supervisors (optional but recommended)

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Step-by-Step: Deactivating a Centre

Estimated Time: 5 minutes (assuming students already reassigned)

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Viewing Deactivated Centres

Where They Appear:

• NOT in active centre lists or dropdowns
• YES in historical reports (for dates when centre was active)
• YES in dedicated “All Centres” view with status filter

How to View:

1. Navigate to “Management” → “Learning Centres”
2. Toggle “Show Deactivated” filter
3. Deactivated centres appear with “Inactive” badge

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Reactivating a Centre

Scenario: Need to reopen a previously deactivated centre What Restores:

• Centre appears in active lists and dropdowns
• Can assign students and supervisors again
• All historical data still intact

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Centre Performance Monitoring

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Centre-Level Metrics

Where to View:

1. Administrator Dashboard → Centre Performance section
2. Learning Centres page → Click on a centre → View metrics

Key Metrics Per Centre:

• Student Count: Total active students in centre
• Completion Rate: % of students meeting daily goals
• At-Risk Count: Students in this centre needing intervention
• Average Variance: How far students are from goals (positive or negative)
• Trend: 7-day completion trend (improving/declining)

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Comparing Centre Performance

Administrator Dashboard View:

• All centres listed with side-by-side metrics
• Color-coded badges: Green (≥80%), Yellow (50-79%), Red (<50%)
• Quickly identify top performers and struggling centres

Weekly Reports:

• Centre Comparison section ranks all centres
• Shows completion rates in descending order
• Use to evaluate supervisor effectiveness

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Using Centre Data for Decisions

Top-Performing Centre (85%+ completion):

• Action: Document supervisor’s best practices
• Action: Have struggling supervisors observe this centre
• Action: Celebrate and recognize in staff meetings

Struggling Centre (<60% completion):

• Action: Meet with supervisor to diagnose issues
• Action: Review student composition (are goals appropriate?)
• Action: Consider supervisor training or reassignment

Inconsistent Centre (varies 20%+ week to week):

• Action: Investigate causes of inconsistency
• Action: May indicate supervisor attendance issues
• Action: Review goal-setting consistency

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Best Practices

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Initial Setup (New School)

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Annual Maintenance

Start of Academic Year:

• Review centre names (still appropriate?)
• Verify capacities (any changes to physical space?)
• Rebalance students if some centres too full/empty
• Update supervisor assignments for new staff

Mid-Year Check:

• Review centre performance metrics
• Rebalance if one centre significantly over/under capacity
• Address consistently struggling centres

End of Year:

• Generate final reports for all centres
• Deactivate centres no longer needed
• Plan centre structure for next year

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Naming Best Practices

DO:

• Use short, memorable names (1-2 words)
• Be consistent (all Christian names OR all colors, not mixed)
• Make names distinct and easy to differentiate
• Consider alphabetical ordering for easy reference

DON’T:

• Use very long names (“The Exceptional Learning Centre of Excellence”)
• Number centres if you might reorder later (“Centre 1” becomes confusing if you add “Centre 1A”)
• Use easily confused names (“Hope” and “Faith” vs “Hope” and “Joy”)
• Include year in name (centres persist year to year)

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Capacity Management

Ideal Balance:

• All centres within 5 students of each other
• Example: 5 centres with 18, 20, 22, 19, 21 students (good balance)
• Avoid: 35, 12, 28, 15, 10 (very unbalanced)

When to Rebalance:

• When one centre ≥130% of average and another ≤70% of average
• During term breaks (not mid-term)
• When adding/removing centres

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

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”Can’t Deactivate Centre”

Cause: Centre still has active students assigned Solution: Reassign all students to other centres first, then deactivate

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”Supervisor Can’t See Centre Data”

Cause: Supervisor not assigned to that centre Solution: Navigate to centre, click “Assign Supervisor”, select the supervisor, save

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”Centre Showing 0 Students but I Assigned Some”

Cause: Students may be deactivated, or wrong term selected Solution: Verify students are active (not deactivated), check that you’re viewing correct term

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”Centre Over Capacity Warning”

Cause: Attempting to assign student to full centre Solution: Either increase capacity, remove capacity limit, or assign student to different centre

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”Centre Name Not Updating in Reports”

Cause: Old reports generated before name change Solution: Centre name changes only affect NEW reports. Historical reports retain old name (by design for audit trail).

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