Take 5: Useful ideas for the new term

As a teaching headteacher with a P1–7 class, I find that the start of a new term gives me opportunities to engage with my class as a complete entity. Below are five things I do to ensure children are glad to be back at school after the long summer holidays.

1 Be active

This term, as an addition to circle time I used a ‘Throw and Tell Ball’, which is like a big beach ball but with lots of discussion starters printed onto it. It meant that none of the children were stuck for something to say after their summer break, and it also allowed them to be active in the circle as they explored different ways of passing it around the group.

2 Give them time to Glow

Time on Glow is always time well spent. Children love using it and are constantly developing their ICT skills. It is great to come back to school and see the passion they have previously displayed for Glow activities being reignited, as a number of them are unable to access Glow from home.

3 Co-operative learning

Providing opportunities for children to learn co-operatively reaps rewards, as it is often in these settings that a real care and concern for each other develops. This term, with a number of new children joining the school, we used a ‘placemat’ activity to help pupils think about the attributes of a good friend.

4 Read to them

Children love being read to, whatever their age. I always start the new term off by reading a book with them. The discussions that arise as a result often serve to ignite and excite the children. A class favourite is Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt.

5 Have a special focus

I find it helpful to engage in a small project that appeals to all the age groups in my class and to spend a significant amount of time in the first fortnight working on it and involving all the children. Often it is ICT or enterprise related and sometimes it is for the benefit of the local community and can involve the whole school, for example in preparing presentations for planned special events.

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