How it works
The shape of the seven weeks
Weeks one and two
Students learn each other’s names and you set up a routine for the register. That is all you need to focus on for now.
Week three
This week is about the form room. The display board goes up empty and the form fills it themselves, so the room starts to feel like theirs.
Week four
This is the week you should not skip. Depending on the year group, it deals with friendships starting to wobble, attendance, or the student who has stopped coming without anyone noticing.
Weeks five to seven
These weeks cover a weekly habit of noticing good things, your first round of one-to-ones, and finishing everything you started in week one.
The shape is the same in each pack, but the content is different.
After that, you have two weeks to fix any routines that have not stuck. Once the form knows how the morning runs, you get about ten minutes back for pastoral work.
Try to finish one thing properly rather than starting six and letting them drift. By Year 10, most students have come to expect that new things get dropped.
Every sheet the seven weeks need, in the order you need them, with how many of each. All of it is free on this site, so you can do the photocopying in one go, the week before term.
What the plan sends you to
Here is each pack’s printing list, with links. Pick your year group and open anything you have not got yet.
The three packs are different. Year 7 to 9 starts from scratch, and week four deals with friendships from week one falling apart. Year 10 and 11 is for a form that already knows each other, and week four is about attendance, because patterns show in September but often go unnoticed until February. Sixth form is built from five and ten-minute activities, and week two covers free periods.
A look inside
Get the resource
Download the pack for your year group. Print everything on page three’s list in the week before term, then follow the plan as you go.
Year 7 to 9
Four pages for a brand new form, with the display board in week three and friendship wobbles in week four.
Download Printable PDFYear 10 and 11
Four pages, for a form that already knows each other: an early look at attendance, and keeping praise going in the exam years.
Download Printable PDFSixth form
Four pages for students joining from different schools, with a short slot built from five-minute activities and how to use free periods.
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