Guest Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 hi all, i hope you can help! i am an nqt starting in september and my school have asked me to come and meet the new entrants for september. but im unsure what to do etc can you offer some advise what should i do, say etc how can i prepare my self. i will have the other teacher there but cant meet with her until that day ! thanks
AnonyMouse_79 Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 Hi Clare congratulations on the job if I haven't already expressed that to you. Don't panic about the forthcoming meeting. You will to some extent be guided by the school anyway. Is this meeting during the day or evening? I am presumaing it is in school time . You speak about the other teacher, so this is a 2 class entry? It is most usual for teachers and children to meet in the classroom but there may also be some sort of "chat" from the head. I doubt very much that yoy will need to do anything other than smile and be polite. Some parents want reassurances about what will happen when their child starts school and to meet you. You will need to be honest if they ask anything you don't know but you can counter this by finding out! Take your lead from the other teacher when you meet her and try to be relaxed and confidant. If you need to set up a classroom just concentrate on table toys and some drawing. Dough is usually popular but forget sand and water! I'd also stay inside so that you can keep tabs on everyone. A first meeting can be very illuminating! I usually make a point of speaking to all children individually, Hallo my name is..., who are you? We are lucky to go out to previous settings and that seems to help chidren too. Any chance of you doing that? Will you be home visiting? Don't be afraid to ask the school for more guidance and ask away on here. Good luck.
AnonyMouse_73 Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 Hi there. Thats good advice from Susan, it can be quite daunting the first time you meet new parents in a new school. I would try to find out how this session is structured, ie will it be all of the children, does the school have a nursery, is there a fromal chat from the Head or foundation coordinator? Knowing this will help to put your mind at rest. Dont be afraid to say that you are new, and that you are finding things out too. You can direct questions you can't answer to the other teacher. You may want to make a few notes so I always carry a note book with me and jot down things I might forget, about the school or about the children. We have our new children in with the existing children so its all a bit hectic on those days, but since most of our children are already in our nursery, we only have about 7 or 8 children coming in from outside. We also have a new teacher coming in September but she will be alongside the outgoing teacher so I hope it isnt too bad. Above all, enjoy! Its the start of feeling that you are getting stuck in to a new job and that always feels good.
AnonyMouse_1027 Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 Hi Good advise from the others and i would say trying to talk to them individually...just quickly is a definate. good luck
Guest Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 thanks you all for the kind words of support. the school i am going too has 42 children entering split betwwen two classes as for sept and jan intake i dont know much yet. ill have to arrange a meeting with school to find out more information. at present im on my final teaching teaching practice so its a case of trying to squeeze everything in but i suppose i will have to get used to not having a spare second in the day! thanks again
AnonyMouse_379 Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 We have two half days for the new children to visit in the summer term. Thet come for half a day- half the class ( on two seperate days) and then the whole class for a morning. We tend to welcome all the children in and have table top activites for the children and special stickers with their names on. We encourage parents to stay for a while to settle their chil;d and show them where there bags is and toilets etc. Once all the children are settled we have a quick story time and them other table top activities, for the children to do. We tend to have an activity relating to the story such as colouring and a painting activity. We tend to keep 3 or 4 children from the current reception class to be helpers for the morning. This works well as it gives us a chance to meet the children before september, take photos and for them to do a painting which we keep and put up for their first day a school. Remember to enjoy it,,, they will be more nervous than you. Lorna
Guest Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 My daughter starts school in september and we will be meeting the staff next week. I'm sure the parents and children will be as anxious as you. Remeber you are going to have along time to get to know these children, you just need to be nice and friendly and smiley My daughters main hope for big school is that her teacher has a happy face and not a cross one!!!
AnonyMouse_79 Posted June 7, 2004 Posted June 7, 2004 Thats a nice idea, Lorna. I take pictures to the children at home when I visit there and get them to choose one and bring it back to display it.
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