Preparing for the New School Year

This blog gives some useful advice to teachers, particularly those in the early stages of their career, to prepare them for the new school year. It gives practical advice on the types of things teachers can do to get organised for the first few weeks back with links to useful resources to download.

As the summer break draws to a close, many teachers are now beginning to cast their minds ahead to the new school year looming in a few weeks’ time. Not before long, the panic sets in and many teachers begin to wonder if they have forgotten how to teach altogether, whether their classroom will be set up in time, or if they will have forgotten to print and laminate those all important labels.

The first term and few days back are always a little frantic no matter how organised you are, so it is important to make the most of the remaining time you have, while you can. Relax and recharge your batteries for the academic year ahead; it is certainly well deserved after one of the toughest years in education for a generation. 

So, what should a teacher be doing during their summer break before returning to school? There is no right or wrong way to spend your summer break and everyone will have individual circumstances but here are some hints and tips to help you feel prepared for the year ahead.

Take Time for Yourself

It has been an incredibly challenging year for all involved in education so this is an important time to focus on YOU and your wellbeing. Look at the summer break and the remaining weeks you have as a time to recharge, ready to go again. You do not want to return to school feeling like you have never been away so make sure you make time to read a book, see friends, spend time with family, go for a walk or whatever it is that you find relaxing and helps clear your head. You will be grateful for the nice memories when you are busy and focussed on work.

Some people will stop here and make sure their summer is a work-free zone and why not? Teachers have earned it! Others prefer to do little bits of work to help them feel organised for the year ahead, ensuring they are prepared. If this is you, then the following hints and tips might be useful.

Classroom Setup and Display

It is always worth making a list of what you already have and can reuse from the previous year if you can. If you are just starting out on your teaching journey, it can be worth checking with your mentor or school headteacher if there are resources or displays in the school that are required and if any teachers in the school have things they could share. This can be such a great time saver and more environmentally friendly.

You then need to think about the wall space and furniture you have in your classroom and decide which walls will be used for different curricular areas. You might find some curricular area banners useful for this. It is worth remembering that working walls are preferred in most schools. These are used to support learners in their learning and created alongside them so at the beginning of the year less can be more, allowing your walls to grow with the learning of the learners in your class.

If you have your class list already, then getting your classroom labels printed, cut out and laminated can be useful before the session. What each teacher needs will depend on their classroom setup and the furniture available but here are a few popular resources:

1. Nessie Themed Tray Labels 

These beautifully designed tray labels can be edited to add in learner names or resource names for labelling trays in your classroom.

2. Scottish Wildlife Peg Labels 

These editable peg labels are useful for your cloakroom area, to give all learners their own space for coats and jackets.

3. Welcome to Primary 5 Desk Mat

These desk mats are available from Primary 1 to Primary 7 and are an excellent tool to support learners in their learning.

4. Our Class Timeline Under the Sea Themed Display Pack 

This timeline display pack is an excellent visual tool to share the learning for the day with your class. Other versions of the class timelines and display packs are available too. Check out all of our Back to School resources here, in one handy place.

Classroom Management

Taking the time to consider the classroom management strategies you might want to put in place can also be a good use of time if you are thinking about the year ahead. This might include the behaviour management strategies, how learners register in the morning, groupings and where and how you will store resources in the classroom.

A well-organised classroom can help with overall classroom management and after years of teaching there are things that you will pick up naturally: they will become second nature. However, for those starting out their teaching career, it can be worth giving consideration to these things before you begin. Your management and organisational style can change throughout the year and will evolve depending on the needs of the learners in your class, but the following resources might help to get you started:

1. Early Level Classroom Setup Resource Pack 

2. First Level Classroom Setup Resource Pack

3. Second Level Classroom Setup Resource Pack

These tailored resource packs are suitable for each Curriculum for Excellence classroom and contain lots of great classroom display ideas.

Lesson Planning

This first few weeks back should be used to ensure smooth transitions for your learners, particularly at the key transition stages. It has been a long break away and learners will need time to get back into the school rules and routines. Spend time getting to know the learners in your class, who they are, what motivates them, what their interests are and where they are in their learning. Building this positive relationship in the beginning can help build a positive ethos and mutual trust in your classroom. We have plenty of Back to School activities for all stages here.

It is also worthwhile spending time on establishing classroom rules and routines and reinforcing and referring to these frequently. Building a class charter can be an effective way of establishing rules with the learners in the class. Learners become actively involved in setting up the rules of the classroom, making them aware of the rights they have alongside their responsibilities. Find out more about creating a class charter in relation to Rights Respecting Schools and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) here. 

The health and wellbeing of our learners will be vitally important as schools return, ensuring learners are equipped mentally for the return to school. Spending time developing their emotional literacy, building resilience, confidence and self-esteem and establishing positive relationships is key in the first few weeks back so it might be worth considering some lessons in this area. 

Top five lesson planning resources:

1. Our Adventure Begins Here Collaborative Colouring Activity Pack 

This is one of many collaborative colouring resources. It can be a great activity for the first few days back, allowing learners to express themselves, and creates a very effective whole class display.

2. All About Me Step-by-Step Art PowerPoint 

This resource is great for finding out more about the learners in your class. It can be used with Second Level and some First Level classes.

3. Back to School Blether Stations 

These Back to School Blether Stations have been created to help you welcome in the new school year and get to know your learners better.

4. Our Class Charter PowerPoint 

Use the handy Class Charter PowerPoint to teach your class about the purpose of a classroom charter: a set of rules, promises or guidelines that learners and school staff all agree on for the classroom.

5. My Positive Affirmations Journal 

Build self-esteem in your learners with this lovely package of positive affirmations for writing a positive affirmations diary or journal.

However you choose to spend your summer break, make sure it is one that works for you and your own mental wellbeing. For education to thrive, we need teachers to thrive and teachers thrive when they look after themselves. You’ve got this!

Raising Grateful Children

This blog provides parents with sound advice on how to encourage their children to be grateful, nurturing their health and wellbeing.

We are living in an era where consumerism and overindulgence often dominate our society. It seems that we learn to focus on what we don’t have and engage in a never-ending pursuit of happiness. One characteristic of this society is that we believe we should have everything, meaning that we’re not content with what we have; we believe that the ‘even better’ is just around the corner. This cycle of constantly needing something new can be costly, both financially and psychologically, and we often forget that we model this attitude to our children. They spend their formative years bombarded with messages telling them how ‘important’ it is to have the latest technology and that if something loses its spark, we should immediately replace it with something shinier.

What Is Gratitude?

Gratitude is appreciating what we have in our lives, whether this is people, objects or experiences. It’s about being thankful for the life we live and the things we experience every day. It’s a skill and a mindset that can be cultivated through regular practice. 

A lack of gratitude can have a negative effect on our lives, especially on our health and wellbeing. By constantly pursuing the gratification that having new or better things gives us, we put pressure on ourselves financially and we learn to feel inadequate by tying our own self-worth to expensive goods. The reality is that the majority of us have exactly what we need to thrive and pursue a meaningful life. This is something we need to teach our children, so that they become adults that are proud of what they have and what they have achieved.

The Benefits of Practising Gratitude for Children

Before we talk about the ways you can encourage your child to practise gratitude, let’s have a look at the benefits of the practice.

A Healthy Mind and a Healthy Body 

Children who learn to be grateful, focus on the good things in their lives, for example a favourite toy, a kind friend or a loving parent. They choose to focus on positive patterns of thought. This doesn’t mean they won’t experience negative thoughts from time to time, but by practising gratitude they change their mindset to a more positive one. Positive thinking can help decrease stress or anxiety and increase feelings of happiness or satisfaction. According to the Journal of Happiness Studies, there is evidence of a relationship between gratitude and happiness in children by the age of five. 

Positive feelings also have a direct and significant impact on the body too. It has been observed that people who are grateful have fewer aches or pains and stronger immune systems.

Living in the Present

Children that practise gratitude teach their brain to focus on the present moment, sparing themselves from ruminating about the past or worrying about the future. They learn to appreciate what they have in the here and now and make the most of it. 

A Skill for Life

Children who practise gratitude from a young age become adults who develop a positive point of view. Looking on the bright side of life becomes second nature and helps to develop resilience. Being satisfied with what they have can also help avoid being materialistic or greedy, allowing them to focus on the good in their lives without wondering ‘what if I had more?’ 

So how as a parent can you teach your children such an abstract skill?

Teaching Gratitude

• The first and simplest step is to encourage your children to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ while explaining to them why we say these words. Teaching manners encourages children to be kind and appreciative of other people, objects and experiences. It’s important that you praise them for being kind and by explaining why it encourages them to consider the act, person or gift as a positive addition to their life. Gratitude is not just about saying these words, it’s about feeling appreciative. 
• Act as a positive role model for them. Be kind, take care of what you have and try to focus on the positive in your day. Talking through the process helps your child make connections between actions and feelings. Encourage them to talk about things they appreciate and praise this practice when they do express themselves. 
• Encourage them to notice their environment. For example, when you go for a walk in the park, encourage them to take a moment and really focus on what they can see, hear or smell. Ask them what they enjoy in their surroundings and how it makes them feel. You could use this lovely Attitude of Gratitude resource to encourage them to write down their observations.
• Help them to make a habit out of expressing gratitude. Why not incorporate discussions about gratitude into your daily routine? Mealtimes or bedtime are ideal for making a point of talking about positive things that have happened during the day.
• Look on the bright side of things. Even if something turns out in a less desirable way, encourage them to find a positive point of view by asking questions that can help them reframe these thoughts. This will help them shift their mindset and create a positive thought pattern. It’s very easy to focus on the difficult parts and we all slip into this habit occasionally. Noticing when this happens and reframing the situation is just as important as modelling positive attitudes, so make sure you are talking them through your process. This handy Making Negative Thoughts into Positive Thoughts Worksheet is great for helping P5-P7s develop the skill of reframing situations.
• Encourage them to express their gratitude in a way that works for them. If your child prefers to express their gratitude in writing, then a great idea would be to keep a gratitude journal or create a gratitude jar. They might also create a ‘thank you’ card or letter if they’re grateful for a person. Not every child will enjoy writing or talking so it’s important that you work with your child to find a way that suits them. 
• Give children age-appropriate tasks or chores at home that develop a sense of responsibility. Simple tasks like helping with laundry or cooking not only teach them important skills for an independent life, but also encourage them to see the effort that others put in to maintain a positive environment. You could also demonstrate this responsibility in other situations such as disposing of litter appropriately in outdoor spaces to respect the environment. This will help your child learn to respect and appreciate what they have.

Here at Twinkl Scotland, we have created this lovely Guide to Gratitude podcast, which introduces P2-P7 children to the practice of being grateful. Why not listen to the podcast together at home? It comes with a mindfulness exercise on gratitude based on four principles: noticing (becoming aware of the person, object or experience you want to appreciate), thinking (considering the reasons why you appreciate them), feeling (examining how you feel about that person, object, experience) and doing (expressing your gratitude).

Teaching children to be grateful can have a positive impact on their health and wellbeing. Expressing feelings of gratitude is a brilliant way to increase their happiness and live a satisfying life.

Teaching Self-Compassion in Schools

What is self-compassion? What are its benefits to health and wellbeing? How can you teach your learners to be self-compassionate? Read the blog to find out the answers to these questions and more. 

An explosion of research has shown that self-compassion is strongly linked to good mental health and wellbeing. Evidence shows how a self-compassionate approach can lead to feelings of happiness, joy, fulfilment and satisfaction as well as reducing stress, anxiety and depression. But what is self-compassion? And how can we teach children such an abstract skill?

A Compassionate Approach

To understand self-compassion, we first need to understand what compassion means. Compassion is defined as the concern for the suffering and misfortunes of others. When we are compassionate, we acknowledge others’ struggles and we try to help them by offering them understanding and kindness. 

The difference between compassion and self-compassion can be found in this small word at the beginning: ‘self’. Self-compassion is commonly defined as the ability to treat ourselves with concern and love. It’s the ability to acknowledge our struggles with kindness, without judging and beating ourselves up. 

While children are taught in school to be kind and compassionate towards others, it is not as common for them to be taught to have the same approach towards themselves. They offer support and kindness to their loved ones but when times are tough for them, they can be hard on themselves, not knowing how they can approach a difficult situation in a different way. Some will grow up to be adults alienated from their inner self, sometimes experiencing feelings of self-hatred. Of course, it can be challenging to adopt this approach and choose love and kindness over self-criticism. However, we can teach our children the importance of this approach, helping them to prepare themselves for when they face struggles in their lives.

Why Self-Compassion?

When we demonstrate compassion towards others, we help them feel connected and cared for. They know that they can count on us because we are kind and supportive. When we know that we are not alone, we have more chances to overcome our struggles and worries. But what happens when this source of support comes from within? While receiving care from other people is extremely important, especially for babies, children and young people, it is important to remember that we can’t rely on others forever to give us the care we need; it’s crucial to learn to fulfil our needs and take care of ourselves.

Being self-compassionate helps us ask ourselves “How am I feeling?” and “What do I need?” We don’t act from a place of selfishness or self-pity but of concern and love. We acknowledge that we struggle and we accept our feelings. This acknowledgement and acceptance will help us tend to our needs and soothe ourselves – and ultimately become our own best friend. Consequently, when we practise self-compassion and look after ourselves, we are more ready and better placed to care for others too.  

The Benefits

Based on numerous resources studying the benefits of self-compassion, scientists have found that self-compassion helps our health and wellbeing by reducing anxiety and depression and increasing joy, contentment and satisfaction. The emotion of compassion is linked to oxytocin, known as the ‘love hormone’. Oxytocin promotes bonding, closeness and trust. When we direct compassion inwards, we release this hormone and the benefits it brings. We feel loved, content and nurtured. 

Self-compassionate people have a better quality of life and fewer relationship problems. They follow a positive lifestyle and sleep well. Their heart rate is steady and this leads to a stronger immune system.

Another benefit of self-compassion is increased motivation and resilience. According to research, self-compassion is positively associated with mastery goals – the motivation to learn and grow – and negatively associated with performance goals – the desire to enhance one’s self-image. When you fail and adopt a self-compassionate approach, you give yourself room to try again. Think of this that way: if you are self-critical and punish yourself for your failure, you will feel miserable and without the energy or motivation to try again. 

Moreover, self-compassion makes us more resilient in the face of hardship. Instead of pitying ourselves for our struggles and misfortunes, we can approach the facts with self-compassion and the knowledge that we did our best. This approach will help us accept the situation, move on and bounce back. Rather than avoiding the situation, we’re looking at it in the face, building our resilience.

The Science of Self-Compassion

One of the most important benefits of self-compassion is the stimulation of our soothing system. Humans have three emotional regulation systems: the threat system, the drive system and the soothing system. 

The threat system exists to protect us from dangers. When the threat system is activated, we feel stressed, scared or anxious, a useful feeling if we are threatened by a lion for example. Our modern society might not have lions walking in the street but it has many things we can feel threatened by: mistakes, lost opportunities, perceived flaws in our abilities, appearance and social skills. 

The drive system energises us and keeps us motivated. For example, a project can make us excited, pushing us to achieve our goals. The soothing system has the most calming effect on us. It is activated when we feel safe, nurtured, calm and content. 

We need all three systems in equal measure to be able to survive and evolve. If the threat system takes the lead, then we will be seeing threats everywhere, feeling anxious or depressed. If the drive system takes the upper hand, we will constantly be chasing the next goal, trying to achieve even more. The soothing system helps quieten the other two when they become overactive. Self-compassion helps with this because kindness and care towards others and ourselves can activate the soothing system, just like a hug we give a loved one.

Self-Compassion in Schools

Now that we have looked into the science and benefits of self-compassion, how can we as educators help children develop a self-compassionate approach?

Educate Yourself

First of all it’s important to educate yourself on this topic. There are plenty of training and workshops on the Internet, such as this Self-Compassion for Educators or this video on Self-Compassion, both led by Dr Kristin Neff, associate professor in educational psychology at the University of Texas and pioneer in the field of self-compassion. Check the ‘Further Reading’ section at the end of this blog to find out more about self-compassion. Being educated on self-compassion will not only help you support your learners but will also help you practice self-compassion.

Be a Role Model

We all know that children learn by example. Like all things in life, self-compassion can be learnt by mimicking behaviours. Teach them by modelling the behaviour you want them to replicate. For example, when you make a mistake in front of your class, instead of saying ‘Silly me’, acknowledge that you made a mistake and that this is okay – teach your learners that criticising yourself is not the way to achieve. With this kind of behaviour, you teach them to accept the situation and still stay kind to themselves.

Explain Self-Care

Teach them the importance of self-care and how it’s different from selfishness. Self-care is attending to our needs; it’s doing things that we love and that nurture us. Teach them that we can still be kind and loving towards others when we are kind and loving towards ourselves. Use this amazing Being Kind to Yourself Worksheet to encourage your learners to think about ways they can look after themselves.

Demonstrate Acceptance

Teach them that self-compassion doesn’t mean that we ignore our feelings – quite the opposite: when something bad happens that upsets or angers us, we acknowledge these feelings but instead of saying how bad we are or that we will never achieve, we choose to be kind by thinking that it is okay, it is hard but next time it will be better. Bad things will happen – that’s for sure. Our learners, like all of us, will face difficulties at some point in their lives: they will encounter frustrations, losses will occur, they will make mistakes. By teaching them that these things are part of life and that they happen to all of us, you will help them set the roots for a resilient life. Self-compassionate people accept that they are suffering and are kind towards themselves in these moments. Twinkl has created this lovely Feelings Folder to help you support Early Level learners to acknowledge and express their feelings.

Incorporate Self-Compassion Practices in Lessons

Incorporating self-compassion practice in the classroom is a very good way to support your learners to become more self-compassionate. A simple self-compassion practice is looking into the way they would treat a friend. This will help them consider how they treat others as opposed to how they treat themselves in challenging times. Hopefully, through this practice, they will start seeing themselves as an inner friend, an inner ally. The point is to treat themselves in the same, kind way they would treat a friend. 

Another practice you can use in your classroom is the supportive touch practice. This one asks your learners to place their hands on the heart and notice the sensations. Touch has a soothing effect when we feel stressed or upset and learning to offer this to ourselves can help lessen the impact of challenging emotions. 

The common element in all self-compassion practices is mindfulness. When we take the time to slow down and relax, we show love and kindness to ourselves. Why not use this Mindful Moments PowerPoint and these Mindfulness Breathing Exercises to teach First Level learners how to take a break and relax body and mind? 

“Be nice to yourself. It’s hard to be happy when someone’s mean to you all the time.” – Christine Arylo

Further Reading

Mindful Self-Compassion UK

Self-Compassion, Dr Kristin Neff

Self-Compassion for Students – Greater Good in Education

Making Friends with Yourself: A Mindful Self-Compassion Program for Teens – Center of Mindful Self-Compassion