New Teachers need an Induction

Picture this…

You’re fresh in the world of teaching, facing a classroom filled with 28 eager faces, 18 of whom have Individual Education Plans (IEPs) – and you're not entirely sure what those entail. You've never tackled Year 1/2 before, and planning a unit of work feels like diving into uncharted territory (this school does them differently to the ones completed at Uni 🫣😳). Recess duty? A mystery. Bell times? Unknown. Meetings? Still a puzzle. You haven’t even met the parents, figured out your students' names, or mastered the art of summative assessments. Computer logins, photocopying, and handling a flipped lid – all in the realm of the unknown.

And that's just scratching the surface!

It's easy to lose sight of the whirlwind that is being a beginner teacher. Stepping into the unknown, especially if you're not the type to comfortably sit outside your comfort zone, can be overwhelming. If you're prone to anxiety, find asking for help challenging, or tend to be hard on yourself for mistakes – brace yourself!

"Here are your keys, and there's your classroom" just doesn't cut it.

The first year is a rollercoaster of intensity. New processes, systems, interacting with kids, supporting neurodiverse students, lesson planning, assessment, explicit teaching, cultivating classroom culture – the learning curve seems endless.

New teachers need to be held, especially in their first year. A QUALITY mentor is the game-changer, someone who genuinely cares and stands by, guiding when needed. This first year mentorship can be the linchpin, determining whether teachers persist in figuring out 'how this teaching thing works' or contemplate throwing in the towel.

One common refrain from new teachers? Their mentors often seem absent, and the support from leadership is minimal.

Here's the thing, leaders and mentors – you don't need to fix, nor do the work for them, but being there, checking in, offering guidance, modelling, and sitting beside them... Absolutely essential!

This all starts with a quality induction. Ahhhh, leaders.... I see you, throwing them the school folder that outlines policies, systems, processes, planning requirements etc. It's covered in dust and 2017 is etched into the spine. This isn't helpful either! If your school folders aren't up to date, that's ok (maybe get onto that for 2025 😝 an online program would be great to setup), but new teachers do need to spend time with you so that they are very aware, before school starts, of what they need to do and understand before the school term starts.

Here are some things New Teachers need to know before students return, preferably at least two weeks before the Term starts:

• Who their mentor is and when they meet with them

• A tour around the school

• Timetables (duty roster, meetings and weekly timetable)

• Behaviour/Classroom policies/systems

• Assessment and KLA/Unit Scope and Sequences

• Class list/Student IEP's/Any handover from the previous teacher/s

• A list of who does what in the school and who they need to contact for certain things eg. Learning Support Officer, Line Manager (AP, Learning Specialist/ Mentor), Wellbeing Officer, Admin/IT staff etc.

• Learning Environment/setup/Lesson planning expectations and any other whole school practices that they need to be aware of

These are the minimum requirements for an Induction. If you can, set up a time with your new teachers on your first Staff Development Days so that the new teachers can ask any other questions that they may have. Please make it known that they will have time to do this.

You see, we place so much emphasis on students' feeling psychologically, emotionally and physically safe, but teachers need to feel this too. So whatever you're doing to cater for new students, to make sure they feel connected, safe and like they belong, make sure you do the same thing for your new teachers!

Would you add anything else to the list?

Warm wishes, Em x