Station Rotation Generator

What this generator does

Solves the ordering problem in a carousel lesson, which is not the same as splitting a class into groups. The group generator decides who works together; this decides where each of those groups goes and when, so that over the lesson everyone covers everything and no two groups are ever at the same station at once.

How to use this tool

1. Enter your groups, one per line — table names or numbers rather than pupils' names.
2. Enter your stations or activities, one per line.
3. Set how many periods the carousel runs for.
4. Press Build carousel, then print the grid for the wall.

Understanding the controls

Groups

One per line. Use table names or numbers — the rotation does not need pupils' names, and keeping them out of it means nothing identifiable is typed into the page at all.

Stations or activities

One per line. The number of stations sets the length of a full cycle: with six stations it takes six periods for every group to have visited them all.

Periods

How many slots you actually have. Setting fewer periods than stations is fine — groups simply cover part of the carousel — and the table under the grid shows which stations each group did visit, with each period listing the stations left unused.

Seed

Type a word such as the class name to bring the same rotation back. Useful when a lesson is interrupted and you want to resume the same carousel next week rather than starting a new one.

Worked examples

Four groups, four stations, four periods

A complete carousel — every group does every station once, and nothing is idle.

Six groups, four stations, six periods

Four groups work each period and two wait. Over six periods every group waits exactly twice and visits all four stations.

Three groups, six stations, three periods

Three stations are in use each period and three rest. Each group covers three of the six: the table under the grid lists the three each group did, and each period names the stations standing unused.

Common use cases

• A science carousel where each table works through a different practical
• Primary literacy or numeracy stations rotating through a morning
• A PE lesson circuit with squads moving between skill stations
• Revision stations covering different exam topics
• A transition day where groups sample several subjects in turn

How this generator works

Groups and stations are each shuffled once, then the assignment shifts by one position every period — group one moves to station two, station two's group moves to station three, and so on around the cycle. Laying it out this way means the schedule is a Latin square: every group meets every station exactly once over a full cycle, guaranteed by the construction. Shuffling independently each period, which is the obvious alternative, gives roughly a two-in-three chance that some group is sent back to the station it has just left within the first two periods of a five-by-five carousel, and makes a repeat all but certain over all five.

Randomness and fairness

Randomness decides only the starting arrangement — which group begins at which station, and the order the stations sit in the cycle. The no-repeat guarantee holds whatever that draw produces, so pressing Rotate again gives a genuinely different carousel that is still complete and still conflict-free. Without a seed the draw comes from the browser's cryptographic randomness; with one it comes from a deterministic, non-cryptographic generator instead, which is what lets the same rotation be recreated next lesson.

For how randomness is produced across the whole site, see how Generate Random works.

Limitations and good to know

• Every station is treated as taking the same amount of time. A practical that runs twice as long as the others will pull the whole carousel out of step, so split it into two stations or give it a double period.
• The tool does not know that a station needs supervision, a sink, a power socket or a particular corner of the room, so check the physical layout before you print.
• Group sizes are not balanced here — that is a separate job, and the group generator does it. This takes the groups you already have and decides where they go.
• If you run more periods than there are stations the rotation loops and groups revisit stations they have already done. The tool warns when that happens rather than hiding it.

Common mistakes

Setting more groups than stations and expecting everyone to be busy

With more groups than stations somebody has to wait. The tool rotates who waits so it is shared out evenly — or add a station, even a low-supervision one like a reading corner.

Redrawing the carousel between periods

Each redraw starts a new rotation, which breaks the no-repeat guarantee across the lesson. Draw once at the start and work down the printed grid.

Assuming the first column is period one for every group

Read the history table rather than the period cards if you want a per-group view — it shows each group's journey along a row. A long carousel is cut into several blocks of periods so that it fits the paper, and each block names every group again.

Practical tips

• Print the grid and pin it up where groups can see it, so movement between stations does not need announcing each time.
• Use the history table at the bottom to answer the question pupils always ask, which is what they are doing next.
• If you have one station that needs you, note which period each group reaches it and plan your own movement around the room from that column.

Privacy and your data

Everything is worked out in the browser on your own device and no group or station name is transmitted; what is measured is that a rotation was made and how many periods it has. The hint deliberately suggests table names rather than pupils' names, so in normal use no personal data is entered at all — and even if it were, it would not leave the page, reach analytics or appear in the address bar. The grid itself is not kept, so print it before closing the tab. The groups list is kept only if you press Save, which stores it in this browser's local storage on this device until you delete it; the stations list is never saved.

Frequently asked questions

Will every group definitely visit every station?

Yes, provided you run at least as many periods as there are stations and do not have more groups than stations. The tool says explicitly when a complete cycle has been produced.

What if I have more groups than stations?

Some groups wait each period, and the rotation moves the waiting round so that over a full cycle — as many periods as there are groups — every group waits the same number of times. A group's waits fall in consecutive periods rather than being spread out.

Can I get the same rotation back next lesson?

Yes — enter the same seed word along with the same groups and stations.