Our back to school guide for teachers

Starting a new school year can be daunting at the best of times, for both the pupils and teachers alike. Meeting a new class full of excited pupils, and taking on board a new year of learning is a big task, and one that requires plenty of planning and scheduling during the 6 week holidays.

Get prepared and organised

A great way to get ready for the new school year is to make sure you get fully prepared and organised ahead of time! Spend the week before the new term starts organising your classroom resources, such as displays, worksheets, exercise books and calendar. Make a list of everything you need to organise before the new term starts, and work to prioritise the list each day. Certain things that need organising could be done with the class during the first week of school, to help get them involved. For example, creating display boards, and creating a daily timetable and routine. Cleaning jobs

Get to know your new class of pupils

One of the most important ways to prepare for the new school year is by learning the names of your new class. Children understand that in the first week, you may make some mistakes with names, but the key is to make sure you spend time practising names ahead of time, and familiarising yourself with the pronunciation of different names.

A great way to find out smaller details about your new class is by creating ‘all about me’ worksheets, for students to fill out various bits of information about themselves, such as their favourite hobbies, which sports teams they support, what they enjoy learning about, their favourite colour, or their favourite animal. This can easily be tailored depending on the age group you’re teaching, and can also be a fun way for pupils to find out more about their peers that they may not have previously known.

Try some fun ice-breaking activities during the first week back

A great way to help pupils relax in their new classroom environment and with their new teacher is by playing some fun ice-breaking activities. For example, games centred around fun facts about each other, or favourite colours, foods, or sports, are great ways for children to get to know more about each other, as well as you. Teachers can also get involved in the games to help the pupils get to know their new teacher better! Some good examples of ice-breaker games are bingo, speed meetings, word clouds, and two truths and a lie.

Make sure you’ve got your classroom stocked up

It’s important to make sure that your classroom is well-stocked ahead of the new year! Before starting the new year, do a stock take of what items you already have available, and check what you might be missing. Once you’ve got a list of items you’re missing, look around for the best deals, and explore YPO’s back to school offers and promotions to get your classroom kitted out!

Discuss expectations

A great way to get to know your new class, as well as making sure that the pupils know about classroom rules, is to work together to create the classroom rules. Getting the children to establish what is expected of them in the classroom, and well as what they’d expect of their fellow classmates, is a good way to ensure that children know what is right and wrong within the classroom. It might be a good idea to create a ‘classroom rules’ display, where the children can help to contribute. Creating the class rules together makes it easier for pupils to remember the rules themselves, too.

Create a checklist to make sure you’ve covered everything

See our checklist below for the top things you need to remember for the new school year! You might want to create your own, or add additional checks onto ours.

• Plan your classroom furniture layout; decide what your seating arrangement is going to be, and try out a few different options
• Replace your display boards with fresh display paper and borders, ready to display new work throughout the year
• Make sure all your classroom tech equipment works; check your laptop, tablets, computers and interactive whiteboards to make sure that all software updates are completed ready for the new year
• Decorate your classroom door, making it inviting for your new set of pupils for the year
• Create a list of the classroom equipment you already have, and note down any missing items you need to order
• Label any new storage boxes and bins to make sure that classroom equipment is easy for both you and pupils to find
• Create your classroom routines; making sure that you have routines in place for the morning, break time, and end of day ensures that each day goes smoothly, and your pupils can get used to a routine quickly
• Write your welcome letter to send home to parents; introducing yourself and your plans for the year, along with any general housekeeping points
• Get your printouts and copies for the first week ready to avoid the rush of using the school printer at the same time as every other teacher

To explore our full range of back to school products, including savings on hundreds of essentials, visit our back to school hub here.