How to plan for your first year as an early career teacher

If you’re preparing for your first term as an early career teacher, you need to make sure you have a plan in place for yourself and your students. If you’re a new teacher, heading into the classroom for the first time can be daunting. That’s why it’s important to plan each step of your journey to ensure that you’re in control of the direction your first term will take. 

If things are starting to feel overwhelming, don’t worry. The Early Career Framework has been designed to give you everything you need to find your feet. You’ll also be able to rely on your superiors for support whenever you need it. 

Let’s discuss how to plan your first term so you can get the most out of your introduction to the classroom. 

The start of term is always a busy time for any teacher, and especially for an Early Career Teacher! Even so, you still need to pay attention to any training or professional development that you may need. For example, you might want to arrange for shadowing or observing other more experienced teachers. Tell them what areas you’re looking to improve and what you’re interested in, so they have time to plan.

 Also, to keep yourself on your toes, you might want to plan for some teaching training in your own time. Once the students have gone home for the day, you may find it is the best time to schedule in some personal development learning.

Spend some time thinking about how you’re going to assess your students. While it’s important to have all your lessons planned out in advance, you will need to make sure your students understand what they’re learning and see that they’re making progress. 

That’s why assessments and class tests can help. These tests don’t have to be super serious. They can be fun activities, like a spelling bee, for example, to help challenge your students, keep them engaged and improve their performance. Successful teaching means getting a response from your students. Planning assessments are the best way to measure your results in the first term.

The life of an Early Career Teacher doesn’t have to be stressful. Planning ahead will ensure that you stay on top of meetings, lessons and more. You’re going to have regular check-ins with your mentor to review progress, as well as parents’ evenings and meetings with other teachers in your school. 

This means you’ll need to get yourself an early careers planner to keep track of all the demands of your time, as well as your day-to-day lesson planning.

Teachers must set a positive tone in the first few weeks of a new term. This means you’ll need to outline expectations and the rules of the classroom so everyone feels safe and respected in the learning environment. Give careful thought to how you’re going to connect and bond with your students. 

For example, are you going to plan a school trip in the term? Fun trips can boost children’s confidence and help build those all-important relationships. You can also create small activities for your class, so you can sit and talk to each student. Relationship building with both students and other teachers should be a priority.

Teaching Personnel is the UK’s leading education recruitment agency. We have a great range of jobs on offer, from Early Career Teaching roles to secondary teacher and primary school teacher roles.

Our consultants are passionate about educational recruitment, and we place thousands of teachers into new roles all across the country. So, browse through our jobs and submit your CV, and take a look at our CPD Academy for more information about how to boost your career.