Teach Secondary 13.5

S chools are places in which everything revolves around steady progression through a packed calendar. Staff are constantly looking ahead to the next important event or milestone, while the students keep on keeping on. Even so, the end of the school year can still seem to arrive suddenly – especially after a gruelling exam season. With staff and students often being so tired come July, end of year events can serve as a way of raising everyone’s SUMMER SEND-OFF Reflections and advice at a joyful, yet bittersweet time SAYING FAREWELL | LEAVING EVENTS | REWARD TRIPS The End of the SCHOOL YEAR spirits and giving your departing students are proper send-off, before your school community goes its separate ways over the summer holidays. Staying sane “ Keep calm, and don’t overreact. ” So went a very simple, yet effective nugget of wisdom from one of the wisest teachers I’ve worked with. Completing a school year is hard work at the best of times, and post-COVID, it seems to be harder than ever. That exhortation to ‘keep calm’ will therefore often be heard among some senior colleagues – a necessary reminder expressed towards the end of the year, mainly to try and avoid any unnecessary dust-ups among the wider staff body. It’s a mantra I frequently observe myself, especially whenmaking sure everyone gets through that final half term safely and securely. During difficult weeks, inter-staff discussion of what we plan to do over the summer holidays can help to keep us sane. I know that some of my colleagues will allow themselves a fewminutes to daydream about how hot the beach will be, or how long it will take them to forget what day it is. Themyth of‘gained time’ One myth that can take hold around this time of year concerns the ‘gained time’ that some of us will supposedly see once our scheduled lessons with Y11 and Y13 are concluded. No, we might not need to schedule those lessons frommid-June onwards, but at the same time, there’s always something that has to be done. Speaking for myself, I’ll be visiting all 13 of my school’s feeder primaries – some onmultiple occasions – to develop full and proper profiles of our incoming Y6s, while also running transition days and planning several events – those being our Y11 prom, an upcoming Awards Evening and a reward trip to DraytonManor that I’ll be leading for our top 250 performing students. Our school tries to ensure that every student gets to enjoy, at the very least, one enjoyable and engaging day outside of the premises – and the end of the academic year, even with just those brief amounts of gained time, provides the flexibility we need to ensure such trips go smoothly. Y11 high jinks A number of secondary schools will opt to not put their students on exam leave, and instead have them remain in school working when not sitting their exams. This approach can certainly be effective when it’s still early on in exam season, with plenty of revision and exam preparation to focus on. But as those exams are steadily completed and subject courses reach their conclusions, some students can’t help themselves from blowing off steam and indulging in some daft capers. Those repeat visits to pick up yet more flashcards or past papers inevitably give way to more chaotic pursuits, such as water fights. By now, our students will 66 teachwire.net/secondary