A change in routine can affect everyone in different extents and ways. The two weeks off for Christmas and New Year is a great example of this. Bed times go out the window, so do eating schedules, outings, hobbies and after school clubs. Some spend the day sat around the tree unwrapping gifts, others don’t even have a tree up. Of course, some people don’t celebrate the day at all, and they just get on with their normal routine as best as they can.

I am already thinking ahead to next week, with it’s early get ups, dark commutes, and drinking cold coffee that I had made 3 hours previously but never got back to. Whilst I have a pit in my stomach about having to jump back into my routine, I am of course excited to see my students. Trying to get a group of teenagers back into a routine in the first week of the year is hard, regardless of whether you work in mainstream or in an AP. I thought I would share my January plan for this year, which has been built upon trial and error.

Christmas isn’t always enjoyable
Firstly, let’s focus on the elephant in the room. Not every student that you greet coming into your AP will have had an enjoyable two weeks off. In my first year or running an AP, I made a mistake to ask everyone what they had received for Christmas. Some told me about their gaming PCs, new bikes, and phones, but there was one boy who had to say that he had got absolutely nothing at all. The pang of guilt has never left me, and every time I open a present I think of his face. It was just a throwaway, simple question, but it’s one I’ll never repeat again in my classroom. In Alternative Provision setting especially, these questions that focus on the materialistic side of Christmas can reopen feelings of shame, or the need to compare themselves with their peers. By not asking my students what they got, I am not trying to remove joy- I am instead trying to make sure my classroom remains and emotionally safe place for all students, regardless of how or where they spent their Christmas.

What do I prioritize

I have already mentioned the word routine a lot in this post, but let’s focus on it a bit more. My Year 11s will return to conversations around their December mocks, the upcoming February mocks, and of course the dread summer final papers. My Year 9s will be in full blown options choosing mode, and the Year 10s will be in that in-between rut of “well it’s not my exams this year yet, I can keep coasting”, forgetting a lot of them have coursework deadlines looming.  By the third day back, all of them will have been bombarded with information about various things that they will have forgotten by the end of the week, so for me, I want to keep my focus on them. Not their exams, their grades, or their futures, but their emotional health in the here and now. My main goal is to remind them of the behavioral expectations, ease them back into attending their lessons and the timings of the day, and start to ease them back into their day to day. 

Example lesson structure

I am very lucky to have a team of amazing specialist teachers who work within my AP. We are also lucky to have access to a small kitchenette, so my students can make themselves breakfast etc every morning if they so wish. Last year, I spoke to the staff and we agreed the first 15 minutes of the first lesson of the day would be an easing in- so the students had a bit of extra time to make their breakfast, and they also made hot drinks and toast for the staff. We then all sat and had a bit of a catchup, before doing a starter activity (active recall from before Christmas, just to gauge what they could remember). We managed to do this across Maths and English, but I am sure it would work just as well for Science and non core subjects. Yes- this does mean that the actual lesson was only 45 minutes, and probably only 30 minutes of taught content after all is said and done, but it really helped get them back into the mindset of school, whilst also being given the opportunity to have a structured chat and catch up.

I hope the return to work is as painless as possible for you all. Looking forwards with this blog, my goal is going to be to post at least once a month, and possibly a couple of extra posts thrown in with resources that I have either made or found.