Posted by kel

Have found out I have P4 next year. Very excited but panicking - what to do with them on the first day? Suggestions appreciated!

Posted by sir2006

Introduce yourself. Go over your expectations and standards you expect in terms of work and behaviour. Discuss rules and why we need them. Have children think, pair and share to come up with five class rules. Pairs join with another and ensure they have around 10 rules. List rules on board and get it down to three or four. Discuss importance of not having too many (might forget them, confusing, and so on) and have children sign a contract to keep to the rules and so have no comeback when they break one.

Posted by starchild85

I did lots of “getting to know you” activities with my P5s. I brought in some items from home which represented me, for example, my fav book, swimming goggles and so on and told the kids about myself. They did self-portraits and chose words that described themselves to write around the frame of the portrait. We wrote postcards of what we did in the summer and drew pictures of where we went. Lots of art activities. Circle time activities. Talked about hopes for the year ahead. Don’t be afraid to set up stations and use educational games, whiteboard or computer. You will find the time flies by! Good luck and don’t worry, you will be fine!

PS - agree with sir2006. I was strict with my kids from the start, so they knew what my expectations were, then eased off as time went on. I was able to get on with them and they still had respect for me.

Posted by sir2006

I’m not sure I subscribe to the “don’t smile til Christmas” ethos but you need to be very careful how you play things - Getting the Buggers to Behave proved a good read.

Posted by kel

Great suggestions! Thank you. Was thinking about doing some sort of time capsule with the class.

Posted by sir2006

Time capsule would be good - you could also do a letter writing lesson where they write a letter to themselves, focusing on what they hope to get out of the year. The letters are then opened at the end of the year, so allow the children to see how far they have hopefully come.

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