Back to School 2024
It seems like just a couple of weeks ago that schools broke up for the summer but with many Scottish schools back to school tomorrow, there’s no denying that the end of the six-week summer holidays is drawing in!
Lovely as it is to catch up with colleagues and get to learn what makes your new class tick, the start of the academic year is, as we all know, hectic to say the least. But Busy Things is here to lend a hand with:
- Getting to know your new class
- Understanding where your class are in their learning
- Time-saving advice to help you get the work-life balance you deserve
Read on to find out more!
1. Getting to know your new class
The first written exercise you ask your class to do for you is always a little tricky. The children are out of practice, perhaps a little unfocused and potentially anxious; you’re keen to get a measure of what you’re working with.
Busy Things has some lovely icebreaker writing activities, which will get the children comfortable in no time, whilst allowing you to see where they are in their learning.
The My family and My pet writing projects are two of these, which children can use to talk about their real or ideal families and/or pets, and even add in pictures to support what they’ve written.
You can also find out more about your class, their likes and dislikes using the Busy graph maker.
There are several pre-made graphs in Busy Things, like this one about favourite animals, but you can create your own too.
How you present the results is also up to you. Choose between bar graphs, pictograms and pie charts, and whether to hide or show your data.
2. Understanding where your class are in their learning
The first pieces of work that your class complete in the Autumn Term are great for helping you understand their strengths and weaknesses. If you’re finding they’re working at a lower level that you expected, do not fear though. This could be a result of Summer Learning Loss, also known as Summer Slide.
And whilst it’s tricky to manage a class that is working at different levels, speedy intervention can rectify it so that any delays to working on this year’s curriculum are minimal.
A good place to start is resitting last year’s end of term tests. Once you have the results of those, you’ll have a much better understanding of who needs additional support and with what, so you can devise interventions to suit.
Your plan of action could include any of the following: whole-class revision sessions; special study groups; extra support at home. And Busy Things can support in each case with:
- Customisable activities that meet the child exactly where they are in their learning
- Unlimited use of all resources in school, making them ideal for use in lessons but also for lunchtime and after school clubs
- Home Access to extend your Busy Things’ access beyond the school site.
3. Time-saving advice to help you get the work-life balance you deserve
As a new beginning, September is also a great time to make professional New Year’s Resolutions to ensure you’re making the most of your time and working as smartly as possible.
Ready to help here too, we’ve trawled the internet for the best time-saving tips for teachers and condensed all our learning into a pack.
Summary
In this blog, we detailed how Busy Things can support teachers in the busy ‘back to school’ period. It included activities to help you get to know your new class, understand where they are in their learning and the impact Summer Learning Loss may have had and provided some popular time-saving hints and tips. We hope you found the information useful.
Should you need any help from Busy Things in the first few weeks of term, or at any time thereafter, we are here to help, so please don’t hesitate to call us on +44 (0)1332 364963 or email us. If you need help updating your schools’ setups (adding/removing/moving teachers and pupils), we have Zoom calls available each Wednesday prior to term starting to ensure you have no surprises or disappointments on the first day back. Join one here!
Equally, if adding Home Access to your school account would be of interest, please contact us for more details and a quote.