Resource Booking

Resource Booking lets your school define shared, bookable resources — equipment, devices, kits, spaces and similar — and lets staff book them for a date and time. Resources are described by a name, tags, a summary and a pickup location; bookings are made against a date/time range and checked against existing bookings so a resource cannot be double-booked. Resource Booking is a feature-switched module and must be enabled for your school — contact support.

Resource Booking lets your school define shared, bookable resources — equipment, devices, kits, spaces and similar — and lets staff book them for a date and time. Resources are described by a name, tags, a summary and a pickup location; bookings are made against a date/time range and checked against existing bookings so a resource cannot be double-booked. Resource Booking is a feature-switched module and must be enabled for your school — contact support.

Where to find it

The module lives under the Timetable menu, in a Resource submenu with three pages:

Who can do what

1. Any staff member can search resources, view availability, make bookings for themselves, and edit or cancel their own bookings.
2. Resource managers — staff with the Manage Resources permission (granted by the Resource Manager role) — can additionally set up resources, book on behalf of other staff or an external user, and manage everyone's bookings on the Manage Bookings page.

Setting up resources (Manage Resources)

1. Go to Timetable > Resource > Manage Resources. The Resources List grid shows each resource with its Tags, whether it Can be booked, and whether it Has future Booking. Filter the list with Search Tags.
2. Click Add New to create a resource, or Edit on an existing row.
3. Complete the Resource Details form: Resource Name, Tags (select existing tags or create new ones — tags are how resources are categorised), Summary, Pickup Location (where staff collect the item), an optional New Note, and the Can be booked checkbox.
4. Click Save.

Things to know:

1. Deactivating a resource (unticking Can be booked) affects future bookings — the form warns: changing this will reset the status of all future bookings, except those already cancelled by the user. Affected users are notified by email. Reactivating restores the bookings.
2. View Future Bookings on a row shows that resource's upcoming bookings.
3. Delete removes a resource; you are warned that this cannot be undone and its booking records will no longer be visible.

Screenshot: Manage Resources page with the Resource Details form open

Booking a resource (Resource Booking)

1. Go to Timetable > Resource > Resource Booking. Your own upcoming bookings appear at the top in the Upcoming Bookings grid.
2. In Resource Search, set a Booking Date Range (times in 15-minute steps), and optionally Tags and a Resource Name. Tick Only show Available to hide resources already booked in that range. Click Search.
3. In the Search Result grid, tick View Availability on a resource to see its existing bookings in a calendar (Day, School Week or Week view). Your own timetabled classes are overlaid on the same calendar so you can avoid booking a resource while you are teaching.
4. Click Book on the resource you want. In the Create Booking dialog, confirm the date/time range and click Submit Booking. The booking is created with status Accepted and appears in your Upcoming Bookings.

Additional options:

1. Booking for someone else — resource managers see a Select Resource User dropdown in the booking dialog and can book for another teacher, or choose External User and type a name.
2. Booking several resources at once — double-click one of your classes on the availability calendar (or open the Create Bookings dialog) to pick a date range and tags, build a list of available resources with Add to Resources, and submit them as one grouped booking.
3. Notes — the Notes button on a search result opens the resource's notes, where you can read notes and add your own.

Screenshot: Resource Booking page with the availability calendar showing bookings and classes

Changing or cancelling a booking

1. In Upcoming Bookings, click Edit on the booking.
2. In the Edit Booking dialog, change the date/time range and click Update Booking, or click Cancel Booking to cancel it.
3. Cancelled bookings no longer block the resource — the time becomes available to others.

Clash checking happens when a booking is first created: if the resource is inactive or already has an accepted booking overlapping your range, no booking is made and you are told to check the resource status and availability. When editing an existing booking's dates, check the availability calendar first.

Managing all bookings (Manage Bookings)

Resource managers can oversee every booking:

1. Go to Timetable > Resource > Manage Bookings.
2. Use the Search Details filters: Booking Date Range, Tags, Resource Name, Resource User (including External User), Resource Active (All / Active / Inactive) and Booking Status (All / Accepted / Cancelled). Click Search.
3. The Resources Booking Report grid lists matching bookings. Use Change Status on a row to switch a booking between Accepted and Cancelled — the affected user is notified by email.
4. Click Export to download the results as a CSV file.

Screenshot: Manage Bookings report grid with filters

Tips

1. Use a consistent set of tags (for example "Laptop trolley", "Sports gear", "AV") — tags drive both searching and reporting.
2. Put clear collection instructions in Pickup Location — it shows on search results, bookings and reports.
3. Prefer cancelling bookings and deactivating resources over deleting, so the history stays visible in reports.