The Ultimate Video Guide for NQTs and teachers starting A New School

As the new academic year approaches, hundreds and thousands of Newly Qualified Teachers will be backing boards, moving tables and preparing for their first ever class that is officially theirs. It is time to go it alone and with this comes excitement, but also anxiety, worry and a little bit of fear.

Over the years, I have created a number of videos that focus on various key aspects of teaching and classroom life. I have compiled the most NQT relevant posts and included them in this article for you to digest. Hopefully, this will take you through a few key areas to consider when preparing for the new school year and your first ever class!

Prepare Yourself

Before you even think about the children, think about yourself first. There is no doubt that this will be a challenging year with ups and downs. You will have good days and bad days and preparing your mindset is really important. You will also be under constant review and the pressure of succeeding can sometimes feel a little too much.

​Listen and respond to feedback; ask questions; dedicate time to yourself and work smartly...not too much laminating.

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Plan For The First Week

The first week of school with the children is both exciting and a little daunting. What will they think of you? Do first impressions count?

I always feel that you grow with your children. They will be feeling just as nervous as you, so be honest with them and work together as a team.

The first week is an exciting opportunity to shape the early relationships with your children and so enjoy it. It is also one of the only weeks you are perhaps not restricted by an overloaded curriculum and so use this time to really get to know your children in fun and creative ways!

Establish Your Routines

How will you get the children to line up? What should children do if they finish their work? How can I reduce marking?

Routines make your life easier in the classroom. By planning and setting out exactly how you want to manage various situations in school, you can ensure key transition times run smoothly.

This will also mean that your planned lessons can be delivered without disruption and you keep as much as your hair as possible.

Routines allow children to develop independent skills and make conscious decisions surrounding their next steps.

Establish Behaviour Expectations

No teachers wants to spend time planning a brilliant lessons for it only to be disrupted by poor behaviour.

​Plan your behaviour strategies before you begin and then review them over the first few weeks. Ensure you are familiar with the school's behaviour policy so your are consistent for the children. It can be confusing if the expectations keep changing or aren't clear.

Just like routines, positive behaviour in class and clear expectations ensure that time is used as effectively as possible and positive relationships are developed.

Be Clear On What Matters

There are so many buzz words in education that have value when they are understood properly. Teachers, sometimes, can be reluctant to clarify the meaning and purpose of some of these words in order to avoid looking stupid.

Always look for support and clarify understanding. You may even find that there are other more experienced teachers who are unsure too.

Misunderstood buzz words can cloud the focus of teachers. But, once they are clear, they can direct and lead the focus of learning and lessons.

Plan Lessons Effectively

Once the foundations of a lesson have been clarified through objectives and success criteria, you can begin to form your lessons.

It can be overwhelming, thinking of where to start. Understanding the purpose of each activity in your lesson and the learning journey you wish your students to go on, you will be able to plan a lesson with purpose and focus. This will ensure you are using lesson time as effectively as possible. And, the more you do it, the better and quicker you will become.

These lesson cogs may help guide you through this process in a structured way.

Remember, planning is not the act of filling in a template that your school forces you to complete for each lesson. Planning is the process of designing the most effective learning opportunities for your students.

Refine Your Planning

Once you have a lesson planned, you may want to review over it to ensure you are happy.

Being reflective is really important as a teacher and asking questions about your planning and lessons can hep refine and tweak your practice.

The more reflective you become the more confident at planning and teaching you will be. You will also find yourself planning lessons and getting it right first time round which will save you precious time in the long run!

Don't forget to subscribe to the
WAGOLL Teaching YouTube channel!

Hook Children Into Lessons

Student engagement is key. Just like a story, it is important to hook children in.

Believe me, it is much more simple than people make out. Anything can be engaging as long you put a positive spin on it and present yourself as excited and enthusiastically as you want the children to be.

I once watched a teach drag an invisible box into the middle of the room. You could have heard a pin drop in the classroom. The children were staring at this empty space on the carpet with wonder, simply because the teacher delivered an Oscar winning performance and hooked them in.

Personalise Learning

And then there is differentiation... which is simply personalising the learning for each child. Lessons don't need ten different print outs or catering for every style of learner. The teacher themselves are the greatest form of differentiation.

Research would suggest that children all learn in very similar ways. It is just about knowing the starting points of each child and tweaking content so it works for all.

Personalised learning is done best when it is child led. The video includes just a few suggestions of how this is possible.

Children and teachers are the best form of differentiation. The confident both you and the children are at making personalised decisions the more fluid learning becomes.

Remember To Be Human

Schools are busy places and there is no doubt that your time can be swamped with marking, planning and teaching.

This can, at times, remove teachers away from children and the true meaning of being a teacher is forgotten.

Simply remember that you are a human, your children are mini-humans too. Children learn best when they feel cared for, safe and loved. Being up to speed on the latest pedagogical research is a waist of time, if you haven't got time to listen to a child's worries or concerns. So enjoy being in the classroom with your class!

Resolving Conflicts

And part of being human means that mistakes are made and fallouts happen. Resolving student conflicts can be challenging and time consuming, especially when parents are involved.

Try and be precise, fair and transparent as much as possible. Clear communication is key for all parties involved.

Children need to be shown how to resolve conflicts through conversation. If done correctly, and time is dedicated to this, children will begin to replicate these behaviours and resolve issues between themselves.

Don't forget to subscribe to the
WAGOLL Teaching YouTube channel!

Enjoy it!

There will be great days and there will be tough days. You will feel rushed off your feet and there will be times when you feel stressed. But there will be those moments where you see the lightbulb switch on in a young person's mind or a sparkle of individuality for a child shines in the most unexpected of ways that will make you feel on top of the world. Teaching truly is the greatest profession, you have the luxury of leading your own class - so enjoy it!

Your turn...

Comment below and share your top NQT tips for starting with a new class or starting a new school. I would love to hear what has or is working for you. I will happily share the best in future posts to build a larger bank of tips for NQTs!