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Lessons & Scheduling131 linked articles

How Octavia Handles Timezones

Octavia stores lesson times consistently behind the scenes, but different teacher actions may use different timezones depending on the context. In general, regular lesson setup uses your school timezone , while some teac

Why Timezones Matter

Timezones affect how lesson dates and times are interpreted.

This is especially important if:

  • You travel between timezones
  • You teach in one timezone but view Octavia from another
  • Your school timezone crosses the UTC date boundary
  • You are scheduling early-morning or late-night lessons

Octavia is designed to keep lesson timing consistent, but it helps to understand which timezone is being used for each kind of action.

The Main Rule

The safest way to think about Octavia is:

  • Regular lesson setup uses the school timezone
  • Some actions on existing lessons use your local timezone
  • Times are interpreted in the same timezone they are shown in

That means you should always pay attention to the wording shown in the app when entering or changing times.

School Timezone vs Your Local Timezone

School timezone

The school timezone is the default timezone for your studio.

Octavia uses the school timezone when you are setting up the normal structure of lessons, such as:

  • Setting a student's regular lesson day and time
  • Setting a group's regular lesson day and time
  • Creating a one-off lesson from lesson setup
  • Generating a recurring series of lessons

This keeps the teaching schedule anchored to the studio's official timezone.

Your local timezone

Your local timezone is the timezone of the device and location you are currently using.

Octavia uses your local timezone for some teacher-facing actions on lessons that already exist, especially when you are reviewing and moving lessons in day-to-day use.

For example:

  • Rescheduling existing lessons from the Lessons list
  • Rescheduling lessons by dragging them in the calendar

What This Means in Practice

Setting up a student's regular lesson time

When you set a student's regular weekly lesson day and time, that is treated as a school-time decision.

If your school is in Melbourne and the student's weekly lesson is Tuesday at 4:00 pm, that is stored as Tuesday at 4:00 pm in the school's timezone.

See:

Creating a one-off lesson

When you add a one-off lesson from a student's or group's page, the time is also based on local school time.

This matches the regular lesson setup and helps keep created lessons aligned with the school's timetable.

See:

Rescheduling an existing lesson

When you reschedule an existing lesson, Octavia uses your local timezone for that action.

This means the time you enter or drag to is interpreted according to the timezone you are currently viewing from.

See:

Why Octavia Does This

This behaviour reflects two different kinds of teacher actions:

  • Timetable setup actions are tied to the school's official teaching schedule
  • Day-to-day lesson management actions are tied to the teacher's current working context

That is why lesson setup and lesson generation use school time, while rescheduling existing lessons may use your local time.

What You Should Watch For

To avoid mistakes, it helps to keep these points in mind:

1. Check whether the screen is using school time or your local time

Some parts of the app explicitly tell you which timezone is being used.

If you are entering or changing times, read the label on the screen carefully.

2. Be extra careful when travelling

If you are working while away from your normal timezone, rescheduling behaviour may follow your local device timezone rather than your school timezone.

3. Regular timetable changes are different from rescheduling

Changing a student's regular weekly lesson time is not the same as moving one existing lesson.

They may use different timezone rules, so treat them as separate actions.

4. Calendar viewing and lesson setup are not always the same thing

A lesson may be displayed to you in your local timezone, while the underlying weekly timetable was originally set in school time.

That is normal.

Family and Student-Facing Timing

For lessons, families see scheduled lessons in the calendar based on the system's lesson timing rules.

For other school-facing or institutional features, Octavia may use the school timezone rather than a viewer-local timezone, depending on the feature.

If you are working with lesson scheduling specifically, the main distinction to remember is:

  • lesson setup and generation = school timezone
  • rescheduling existing lessons = your local timezone

Next: Your Calendar