A teaching timetable set by the school covers when classes happen, but it rarely accounts for everything that surrounds them — prep, marking, admin, and the lessons that don't go to plan. Building a personal layer on top of the official timetable is where the real planning happens.
Map your fixed teaching timetable first
Start by transferring your official class schedule onto your own weekly grid exactly as given — this is your non-negotiable base layer. Everything else you plan has to work around it, since it can't move.
Schedule prep time right before the lesson it's for
Prep done the night before, or worse, the same morning across five different subjects, tends to be rushed and generic. Where your timetable allows it, place preparation time as close as possible to the specific lesson it's for — the content is fresher and the prep is sharper.
Batch marking into dedicated blocks
Marking a few books here and there between other tasks feels productive but is actually one of the slower ways to do it, since you lose time re-establishing the marking criteria each time you start again. Block one or two longer, dedicated marking sessions per week instead of scattering it across every free period.
Build a standing "overflow" slot
Some weeks will include an unplanned parent call, a behavior incident, or a lesson that needs re-teaching. Keep one recurring, protected slot each week specifically for whatever didn't fit elsewhere — without it, overflow work has nowhere to go except your evening.
Separate planning time from admin time
Lesson planning and admin tasks (emails, data entry, forms) use different kinds of attention, and mixing them in the same block tends to degrade both. Give each its own labeled slot on the timetable rather than lumping them together as generic "work time."