Building quick relationships with the new class for September 2023 is essential for a smooth start to the academic year.

Some schools may choose to organise some time in the summer term calendar for teachers to spend some time (a lesson, half or a full day) with their new classes, in the hope it will make the September transition easier and less stressful for the pupils.

In this article, we have collated 6 of the best transitional activities that are ideal for getting to know the pupils in the new class and whilst having some fun!

Get-to-know-you activities for your new class

Kahoot Quiz

Needing only a free sign-up, Kahoot is an online quizzing site that has a quiz on every topic, and if it doesn’t, you can always create one yourself for free. A popular choice for transitional activities is to create a Kahoot on yourself (favourite colour, animal, sports team, hobbies) and quiz your pupils at the beginning or end of your short transitional session. The quiz is competitive with a celebration of the top 3 with the quickest and most accurate answers at the end. As anyone can create a quiz it is useful to vet the pre-made quizzes beforehand for accuracy of answers and spelling errors, you can challenge your class to make a quiz themselves by sharing the website in your portal access area.

Would you rather

An activity that requires no planning or resources, it can be used as a perfect time filler and creates plenty of meaningful discussions to give you an insight into personalities and interests. First, read the statement aloud and then openly discuss, this game can be used as an excellent discussion and reasoning starter for future English lessons too.

Would you rather:

• Be an ant-sized monster or a monster-sized ant?
• Have fingers for toes or toes for fingers?
• Be invisible or be able to read minds?

Truth or fib

This can be played in small groups so all pupils get a turn, they think of a statement and share it with the group, it can be simple such as I have a sister or more adventurous, I have ridden on a camel. The group will decide whether they think it is a truthful fact or a fib.

Name place cards

Ready for their new seating plan in September, the pupils can get their creative juices flowing by designing their own name place card or peg place. Encourage them to try and show their interests and personality through their masterpiece, giving you discussion-starting ideas for when you supervise.

Totem pole activity

Another activity for the creatives, create a totem pole that has information about the pupil in each section: family, pets, hobbies, favourite subjects and ambitions (this can also be done using the net of a cube). This totem pole can be 2d like the template found in this unit of work or can be created from recycled materials like the middle of a toilet roll.

Diamond Cricket

Depending on the outdoor space available, and of course the weather! You may want to get your new class active and moving with diamond cricket. It is likely to be a new method of cricket than they are used to and therefore will give you an idea of listening skills, leadership personalities as well as sportsmanship. You can find instructions on how to play the game here. Don’t forget to share your pictures of your transitional activities on the school’s newsfeed to engage the parents as early as possible.

Beginning a new school year can be an exciting time for most, for those few who are particularly anxious surrounding transition, you can find additional ideas to support this challenging time here.