It seems so incredibly hard to believe, but the end of the school year is just around the corner. How can it be possible that the first day of school feels like only yesterday and forever ago, all at the same time? 🤯

 

There is no denying that the kids in our class are super precious to us, especially in another year of uncertainty: in and out of lockdowns, hybrid teaching, unease. Our kiddies need to know that our time together was worth it. It’s easy (and OH SO UNDERSTANDABLE!) to feel teacher tired and just want to let the year come to an end. Let’s face it – Term 4 certainly drains anything you have left in the tank! But that is where being part of the Top Teacher Team pays off 🙌🏻

 

With a little help from us, your End of Year can be the perfect mix of reflection, transition and celebration, sending your class of 2021 off to the summer holidays with all the warm fuzzies they deserve.

 

 

One of the incredible privileges of being a teacher is to be able to watch first-hand how much students grow over a school year. Whether this is academically, socially, physically, it is truly worthy of celebration and reflection. This could be in the form of printable keepsakes such as Memory Books and Spinners, Now and Then Reflections or Favourite Snapshots…

 

 

…or oral reflections such as our Digital Memory Book or ‘Turn and Talk’ Digital Resources. Both these PowerPoints have over 60 slides with various activities and prompt students to encourage reflecting on the year!

 

 

Finally, we have added a super cute and very comprehensive student reflection to our end of year resources for 2021. This trifold brochure is such a fantastic way for students to think deeply about their year of learning. This EDITABLE doc asks students to indicate how they feel about all the different learning areas, as well as providing spaces for them to share moments from the year they are proud of. Being editable, it is suitable for all year levels, and would also be a great resource to use if you were running student-led conferences with parents earlier in the year.

 

 

Whilst the popular saying goes ‘change is as good as a holiday’, we also know that it’s human nature to find change challenging. This is especially true for young children, particularly in a year full of unexpected disruptions. Children reach the end of the year excited for what is coming, but most likely apprehensive about it too 😨 You can only imagine all the thoughts running around their minds…

 

Will I have friends in my new class? 👯‍♂️

 

Will I forget where my new classroom is? 🧭

 

Will my new teacher be as incredible as my 2021 teacher? 💛

 

Smooth transitions from one grade to the next are an integral part of helping a child adjust to the changes and make the most of a new situation. What transitions look like will differ from school to school. Some schools have their students spend time with their new teachers and classmates prior to the end of the year, others schools don’t release class lists until the final bell has rung. Either way, we have some great new resources that will help promote discussions of the impending changes and help students feel more at ease with the idea of moving to a new grade.

 

 

Our ‘Dear Future Teacher’ Postcard is a lovely way to have students let their 2022 teachers know a little bit about them – starting those connections before the new year even begins. If you were lucky enough to receive something like this from your future class – think of the ways you could add some personal touches to your room to lower any possible anxieties? You could even write a postcard back to them!

 

Our ‘All the Reasons’ resource is another great transition resource. Have your current students write and draw about why they think the class of 2022 is going to love their new class. Great to have up as a first display or to make it into a booklet to share with new students.

 

 

If you are lucky enough to be meeting with your new class prior to the start of the school year, why not complete an activity that doubles as a welcome display? Enlarge some of our ‘name dots’ in a theme of your choosing (we love our Good Vibes ‘In our class’ display) and have students draw a simple marker portrait ready to hang on your door for the start of the new year. Students know when they arrive on day one, they are already part of this class community 💛

 

 

 

And finally, the end of a school year is most certainly time for a HUGE celebration! This doesn’t mean over the top classroom decorations and parties (although if you are a little bit extra like us here at TT, then you’ll find the energy to do this too!), it means a celebration of all that has been achieved together as a team. A celebration of learning. A celebration of friendships. A celebration of spending 12 months together and growing like a little community. Mostly, it’s time to have fun together! And we are all about fun! 🥳

 

Why not create a fun countdown to add a little extra sprinkle of joy to each of the final school days? Our ‘End with a Bang’ kit is perfect for this! Add fun notes to each balloon that will be discovered as each balloon is popped such as end of year activities (watching a movie or having a dance party) or notes for individual students.

 

 

You might also be interested in our Kindness Countdown – which asks students to remove a link from the chain and take part in a specific act of kindness each day that is written on each link.

 

 

We also have a range of fun printables that might also suit your end of year celebration needs! Why not have students collect autographs from their friends? Or create a cute little time capsule for students to keep and open at the end of the following year.

 

 

Whatever your plans are this end of year, we hope you have the most amazing time reflecting, preparing to transition and celebrating with your class over these final precious days 💛