Getting Ready for a New School Year

When starting a new school year, I have a list of priorities to work through to ensure my team have all the information and resources they need.

Mathematics Teaching and Learning Folder

All teachers receive a folder containing the following:

  • Long term plan that provides an overview of the topics we are teaching this year.
  • Schemes of work that are specific to the teacher’s classes.
  • Class lists that include the base line data, targets and pupil learning profiles.  (Download a class list template)

Exam Results Analysis

I use part of the faculty time during INSET to review the recent summer exam results. Then, I make a PowerPoint presentation for my team to summarise three key areas.

  1. Overview of achievement across students attaining Grade 4 and above, Grade 5 and above and Grade 7 and above. I compare the results to the national average to place any improvement or decline in context.
  2. The attainment trend on the last three years results by tier of entry (Foundation/Higher) and class to review our current setting arrangements.
  3. Topics we have taught well and not as well in comparison to other schools using the same exam board. Areas we have not covered as well as other schools are discussed in future development meetings as they come up in the schemes of work.

The presentation aims to provide a forum where we can be constructively critical of our performance as a team.  I ask every staff member to contribute to the discussion while leaving my thoughts until last.  This helps to create focus in the team’s direction this school year. 

Here is a template of the presentation to download and edit.

Open Evening

The open evening in most schools typically occurs in late September or early October. Since most teachers are very busy getting to know their new classes, organising an open evening as early as possible is essential. I ask teachers to look for opportunities for their students to produce display work. The topics are arranged within the long-term plan so that each year group has a chance to make the display work in the first few weeks.

I ask teachers who teach Year 7 to nominate students who could help support and showcase the faculty. For ideas about the activities you could run, check out this blog on Preparing your mathematics department for the open evening.

Getting Ready for a New School Year

Before the students arrive, I talk with each member of staff to address any concerns. The two most common problems are learning students’ names and managing instances of poor behaviour.

Learning student’s names

The quickest way to learn the students’ names is to do a seating plan. Print it out on A4 and have a copy to hand whenever you address the students. I have written more about this in my blog Setting Up your Maths Classroom.

Behaviour Management

Try not to worry about this and focus on delivering engaging lessons. For example, I use mini-whiteboards for formative assessments throughout the class. This way, I know who can and cannot access the work before they become off-task. 

When poor behaviour does occur, deal with it on a case-by-case basis at a low level. Be firm with your expectations and have clear consequences that are consistently applied, and take the time to follow up on any you have given. Following up may be time-consuming but will pay off in the long run. I have written more about my blog, Behaviour Management in a Mathematics Lesson

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2 thoughts on “Getting Ready for a New School Year

  1. Deborah Vollborth says:

    Hello, some interesting reading. I like the idea of the % residual to assess poor topics but where exactly can I find this? – I can log on to the site but can’t find it.

    • Hello Deborah

      Thank you for leaving a comment. The residual refers to the performance of students at my school on a particular topic compare that of other students across the exam board. This information is available from the exam board examination analysis tools. I currently use Edexcel but I know AQA have something similar which I have used in the past.
      I hope this helps.
      Jonathan

Comments are closed.

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