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Your first few days

Your first few days

Before you even start your placement, it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with the structure and ethos of your placement school or college.

Some higher education institutions will automatically provide you with information and may even arrange for you and other student teachers to visit the establishment for a group induction before your placement starts. If your institution does not, it would be courteous to contact your mentor to confirm arrangements for your arrival. If you are invited, take the opportunity to visit the school or college in advance. This will alleviate some of the initial strain of being a new person in an unfamiliar environment.

The first few days in a school placement can be very daunting. The following are some useful tips for your first day:

arrive at the time expected, or, if possible, a little earlier
agree with the head/class teacher how you will be introduced to the children. some schools will require you to be known by your first name
behave as a prospective teacher at all times, but especially with the children you are going to teach
observe staff room etiquette – note whether staff pay for tea/coffee and contribute if they do
be quiet and diplomatic in the staff room; staff need their breaks and a chance to talk to each and get ready for the next session
be willing to help your receiving teacher in any way necessary; if s/he has a playground duty, ask if you can join them in this.

During your first few days, you also need to begin to gather information for your files in preparation for your placement. As a guide, you should aim to achieve some, if not all, of the following information.

The school context

Setting the context:read the school’s ‘Mission Statement’ or similar noting the key points of the school’s philosophy/ethos.
Policies: whilst it is not necessary to photocopy school policies, you should ensure that you read all available policies and are aware of their principal points. e.g. health and safety, behaviour, marking, equal opportunities policies, etc.

How the nursery/school is organised and managed

Staffing: schools are, at best, communities; list all those teaching and support staff who work in your placement school/setting.
Governors play a key role in any setting; list who they are, particularly noting the parental and staff representatives.
Staff/planning meetings: when during the week these take place; ask if you may join them.

How your class teacher manages and organises the children

Daily routines: assemblies, playtimes, lunchtimes, etc.
Children: list their names, dates of birth, language/s and any religious affiliation. Be sensitive about requesting any information not all schools and children are at ease with, for exampling, naming heritage languages.
Staff responsibilities: list all adults who work in the classroom and the roles they have.
Outdoor area (Foundation Stage): note the design of the area, the equipment available, how it is organised each day/week.
Classroom layout:include an aerial drawing of the furniture in the room/s. Give some thought to available resources, how these are organised to maximise learning and to how you will go about making a display.
Classroom groupings: in the foundation stage, identify ‘your’ key group and any other groupings (e.g. for story sessions), in key stage 1 and 2 record which group/s children belong to, including children from other classes if there is cross-class grouping for Literacy and Numeracy.
ICT: observation on how ICT and other technologies are used to support learning.

How learning is planned and taught through the use of the Foundation Stage Guidance or the national curriculum

For those in key stages 1 and 2, how the Literacy and Numeracy Strategies are implemented (or English and Mathematics equivalents).
Your setting's medium term plans for Literacy and Numeracy (or their equivalents in Foundation Stage) and all other curriculum areas/areas of learning that will be taught during your placement.
Cross-curricular planningin KS1/2 in line with the Primary National Strategy.
Examples of session/activityplanning formats used by the setting/school.

How children's progress is observed, monitored and recorded

Formats for observing, recording, monitoring children’s learning.
Additional information from the school, e.g. Foundation Stage profiles, national curriculum levels.

Please note that teachers are very busy people! Arrange a time to meet to discuss the information you need to collect and/or write a list – not a tome – of any documents you require to read or photocopy.

Gathering information

If you cannot visit the school beforehand, try to find out as much as you can about it by looking at its website or by requesting a prospectus. You could also read the school's most recent Ofsted report (available from the Ofsted website) which will give you useful information about the establishment, its strengths and weaknesses, and what issues it is currently addressing.

The school profile is another useful document. Since the Education Act 2005, schools are required to provide a school profile that includes a wide variety of information that would be useful to a new teacher. The profile includes responses to questions such as:

What have been our successes this year?
What are we trying to improve?
How are we making sure that every child gets teaching tailored to its individual needs?
How do we make sure our pupils are healthy, safe and well supported?
What have we done in response to Ofsted?

On your first day

Aim to familiarise yourself as much as you can on your first day with the layout of the school.

Aim to familiarise yourself as much as you can on your first day with the layout of the school – it’s always good to find the staffroom coffee machine and toilets as soon as possible! You will also need to know the timings and routine of the school or college day (eg lesson times, playground duty, etc). Be sure to find out how and where you can secure your personal belongings; you should be given a locker, lockable drawer or secure area in the staffroom.

It is essential that you are familiar with the school’s emergency procedures (what to do in case of fire and where the fire exits are, the first-aid procedure, etc). You should also establish the protocol for matters such as reporting sickness and leaving the school or college premises during the working day.

School policies

You also need to read particular school policies that will influence your approach to learning and teaching from the outset.

The governing body of each school makes decisions about school policies. Ask where they are located, and try and familiarise yourself with the most important ones. These may include policies on:

Child protection
Behaviour (including anti-bullying)
Equal opportunities
School procedures (such as lining up; addressing the teacher; going into assembly; giving homework; taking the register)
Marking and giving feedback on pupil’s work
Approaches to learning and teaching
School uniform (the wearing of jewellery, denim or trainers, for example).

This is not a comprehensive list and it is important to discuss with your mentor any other policies which may be important.

Your workload

As a result of the National Agreement Raising Standards and Tackling Workload, you are no longer expected to carry out 24 specified administrative tasks (such as photocopying or putting up displays). Find out from your mentor what is and is not expected of student teachers with regard to these tasks.

Resources

Schools and colleges have limited resources so you should establish at the start of your placement exactly what equipment and which resources are available, and if limits are imposed upon their use (there may also be booking arrangements for some equipment).

Also, check who pays for what (photocopying, telephone calls and stationery, for example), and find out what students are expected to provide for themselves.

Download ATL's free publication for students, Into the classroom, for further advice on how to get the most out of your studies.

Help and support
For further advice on this issue, ATL members can speak to their school rep, their branch secretary or their regional official. They can also call the London (020 7930 6441), Cardiff (029 2046 5000) or Belfast office (02890 327 990) or email info@atl.org.uk.

For out of hours enquiries, call the out of office hours helpline on 020 7782 1612 (Monday-Friday, 5-8pm during term time). Don’t forget that ATL also offers a Crisis Line for members who have suffered assaults or trauma either at work or in their private lives (08705 234 838).

Your first few days

Before you even start your placement, it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with the structure and ethos of your placement school or college.

Further information

Useful websites

Resources