As the holidays come to an end to be followed by a new academic term, it’s important to know some of the things to do in other to start the term on a good note.

While this may seem overwhelming, and a bit crazy to add on about ten more things to your list, it can also save you a lot of time (and not to mention stress) in the fall. So, what can you do now to get ready for back to school?

1. DO A BACK TO SCHOOLSUPPLIES LIST

You have to seat down with your team to make a list of everything you probably will need and do a proper budgeting for them. Find out the cheapest suppliers, nearest and complementary items. If you don’t do this, you end up spending money you have not budgeted and this puts you under pressure. Make a list of things your students will need, as well as what you will need.

2. MAKE THE ORDER OF THE THINGS YOU NEED ON TIME.

After you have made your list, then you can make an order through the suppliers. Early orders will ensure that you get the best items and change the ones you don’t like. Some schools ask parents to purchase a certain amount of school supplies for their children then they provide the rest.

Others ask teachers to place an order of what they need and accept any donations from parents. So if your school allows you to place an order for new workbooks, textbooks, paper supplies, or whatever else you need, now is the time to do it.

3. REPLACE THE OLD BULLETIN BOX WITH NEW ONE

Sometime I walk into some schools and see their bulletin board with very old messages or news. It doesn’t speak good of your planning strategy.

Make sure everybody who comes into the school has a feeling that something new is going to happen. When your staff have expectation they work better.

This means that when you take down your old bulletin boards for spring cleaning (and wash the walls) you can put up new ones for the following year.

Simple colorful backdrops will make it easy for you to place student artwork on come the fall. A birthday bulletin board or a homework wall is another easy bulletin board to tackle for the next school year.

4. TAKE AN INVENTORY.

Do everything within your power to take stock of everything you had before you start a new term. It helps you know facilities that are malfunctioning, it also helps you know when they get missing.

Take inventory of your library, ICT Lab, Toilet facilities, Classroom chairs, tables, admin facilities.

Write down the Items, Quantity, working condition as at date, Current value and keep it. So that next session you can compare and know if they are missing or malfunctioning and how and why.

5. GET THE APPROVED ACADEMIC CALENDAR

As you know the calendar is the best friend of every Life Builder. Because all activities have to fall within the academic Calendar, it’s better to get it on time and plan your school activities with it. Lack of effective planning has made some schools the odd one out.

.6. PLAN PLAN PLAN

The first week back to school is extremely hectic. Instead of waiting until the week before school to think of what icebreaker activities you are going to plan, do it now. Create enough activities (or use the ones you planned from this year) for a full week. This will help reduce a lot of that first week stress teachers get at back to school time.

Make sure Lesson notes, lesson plans, assignments, tests and exams are already in place in line with the scheme of work. This will help a lot.

7. MAKE COPIES

Once you figure out what you are going to be doing in the new term back to school, now it’s time to make all of the photocopies for the activities and lessons you have planned. After you have made the copies make sure that you organize them into folders or file them away into the appropriate spot. This will help you to stay organized, and will be easier for you to find when you enter your classroom next school year.

8. SET YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR

Take a few moments to reflect upon your past year and what worked and what didn’t work. Really think about what you want to accomplish in the next school year. Jot down a preliminary outline of what you plan on doing month-to-month. This will serve as your outline that you can look at in the fall, and it will give you some sort of direction that you can follow.

9. UPDATE YOUR SCHOOL WEBSITE

You have to know that we are in the digital world and most people make enquiries about your school through the internet and your website is your identity. Most school administrator feel too busy get their IT team to update content of their website from time to time.

Upload current events, enquiries, results and other important things that will boost the image of your school.

Well, I could do this for you.

10. TRAIN AND MOTIVATE YOUR TEAM

The importance of training can never be over emphasized. Put your staff in the mood, share your thoughts and visions with them, let them know how they will play a part and what they stand to gain if the goals of the school is achieved.  

Contact Us for Staff Training. We have with a team of highly qualified and motivated trainers.

Thanks and God Bless You.