5 simple things you can do in June and July to make September easier

Looking for end-of-term teacher organisation tips before the summer holidays? These five practical teacher habits can help you organise your classroom, prepare for September, reduce back-to-school stress and start the new academic year feeling calmer, more organised and ready for a great start back.

The end of the school year can feel like a strange in-between stage: GCSE exams are finishing, summer still feels weeks away, and “gained time” doesn’t always turn into free time. But if you do find yourself with a tiny bit of spare time between now and the end of term, can I encourage you to make the most of it and to start thinking about next academic year?

Here are five things you can be doing over the last few weeks before the summer break to make sure you have a great start back in September:

1. Have a tidy up
   Sorting through (and throwing away) old exercise books, photocopied worksheets you never got round to using, and random scraps of paper will give you a clearer head and tidier classroom ahead of the new academic year. You might think you will go into school over the summer, or do it during an inset day at the start of September, but imagine how much Future You will thank you for just getting your head down and tidying up a bit over the coming weeks?
2. Throw away all of the pens that have run out
   If you're lucky enough to be allowed to show a film at the end of term, take this opportunity to grab all of the pens in your classroom and a piece of paper, and get scribbling. Throw away any pen that doesn't work and make a note of where you're running low on supplies. This will save you so much time and irritation next year, as you will know that the pens all work. Imagine that!
3. Organise your digital files into clearly labelled folders
   Have different folders for each year group, language, and subfolders for each unit of work. And make sure you have backed everything up in a Google folder!
4. Plan as much as you can for the first week back
   Can you imagine arriving at school in September to find that Past You had already photocopied worksheets for the first lessons with your new classes? Or had already made name tags for your new students? Or had already created the seating plans for your classes? Wow.
5. Reflect on what has gone well this year
   Take a moment to flick back through your planner and note which lessons worked particularly well this year. You can also note which ones need some tweaking, but focus on the positives more than the negatives. You've almost made it through another academic year and that's something to celebrate!