A first-week checklist for new joiners in schools

A new Class 6 science teacher arrives on the first Monday of the session. The vice principal hands her a timetable and points to her classroom. By the third period she has not seen the syllabus plan. She does not know how to enter attendance on the portal. A parent at the gate has asked her about a field trip. She is competent. The school simply forgot to show her anything.

A one-page sheet cures this. It names what a newcomer must see, sign and try across five working days, and who showed it. You will find a template to copy first, then notes on running it. Schools still shaping their recruitment calendar can read the piece on bunched hiring.

NAME ________  ROLE / SUBJECT ________  CLASSES ________.
START DATE ________  MENTOR ________  COORDINATOR ________.

BEFORE DAY ONE.
[ ] Appointment letter and joining pack sent.
[ ] Timetable, class list and staff room desk ready.
[ ] Mentor named and told.

DAY ONE.
[ ] Tour: classrooms, labs, library, office, medical room, toilets, exits.
[ ] Met principal, coordinator and head of department.
[ ] Child safety routine and who to call explained.
[ ] Signed the staff code and the attendance register.

DAYS TWO AND THREE.
[ ] Syllabus plan, unit test calendar and lesson plan format shown.
[ ] Diary, homework and marks entry system walked through.
[ ] Observed two periods of the mentor.
[ ] Substitution, leave and duty rules explained.

DAYS FOUR AND FIVE.
[ ] Taught a class with the mentor present.
[ ] Parent communication rules and complaint route explained.
[ ] Met the support staff: lab assistant, librarian, office.

END OF WEEK.
[ ] Mentor chat held on: ________.
[ ] One question from the new member: ________.
Signed mentor ______  coordinator ______  new member ______.

1. 1

   Pack the folder on Friday

   One printed sheet per joiner, clipped to a folder holding the timetable, class lists and a spare diary. The mentor hears a week ahead.

2. 2

   Count only what was walked through

   The mentor or coordinator went through the item with the joiner in person. A circular pinned to the staff room board does not count.

3. 3

   Add lines for your school

   A boarding school adds hostel rounds. A preschool adds nap time and pick-up rules. A school with a lab adds lab safety and chemical store access.

4. 4

   Friday after the last bell

   Coordinator and mentor read the sheet over tea. Every blank becomes a named task for the second week.

5. 5

   Put it on file

   The sheet goes into the personal folder, so the first-year appraisal begins with facts.

• The mentor ticks the day's items after the last period.
• The coordinator reads it first thing on day two and again on Friday.
• The newcomer adds one question in their own hand on Friday.
• The principal gets one line after a month, giving the number of joiners with a fully signed sheet.

Add the odd items that every campus has. Where is the attendance portal login slip kept? Which cupboard holds the chalk, markers and duster? Who owns the key to the AV room and the projector remote? Who stamps the leave slip? Does the tuck shop open at the interval? Show the visitors' register, the stationery indent form, the lost property drawer and the notice for the Saturday remedial batch. A teacher can lose an entire first period hunting for a marker.

The tour line sounds trivial, yet a new teacher who cannot find the photocopier, the first-aid cupboard or the washroom loses confidence in an hour. The syllabus plan line gives her the pace of the year: how many chapters before the first unit test, which practicals are fixed, when the half-yearly paper is due. The marks entry line prevents the Thursday panic before the report cards. The parent line protects the teacher from promising extra tuition at the gate or a grade change that is not hers to give.

Watch the mentor chat on Friday. A new teacher often says the school is lovely and says nothing else. Ask a better question: what surprised you this week, what could you not find, and who did you feel you could ask? Write the answers down.

Think of the week in the school's own rhythm. Assembly, the bell schedule, the interval, the dispersal and the staff briefing after the last period each need a line of explanation. A joiner who has not been told where to stand at dispersal, or who is expected to know that the third bell means lunch, will watch the clock for a week.

The checklist is for everyone who joins, not teachers alone. A lab assistant needs the chemical store rules, the stock register and the breakage log. A librarian needs the accession register, the issue slips and the fine rules for lost books. A bus attendant needs the route list, the roll call routine and the emergency contact sheet. Drivers, ayahs, security guards and the office clerk all benefit from a half-page version. Part-time teachers for art, music or sports should get the same first-week care, because they are in the building less often and miss the informal teaching of the staff room.

In a state board school with a large roll, the state board onboarding page describes how to run orientation for many joiners at once. The international schools onboarding page covers overseas joiners who need housing, local registration and help settling in. Our employee onboarding process service sets the general method.

Take the template, add two lines about your own campus, such as the house system or the PTA calendar, and print enough for the next intake. At month end, look for boxes nobody ticked. They mark where your welcome falls short. Exits among new teachers are examined in this guide to why employees leave schools. The sector as a whole is on the school types and boards hub.