From the Teacher Support Network, www.teachersupport.info.

STARTING A NEW JOB
Getting through your first few days at your new school

• Complete a practice run of the route to the work so that on your first day you arrive in a calm and relaxed state.
• You may have been given a tour of the building at the interview but you may not remember the layout very precisely. Try and go in beforehand and find out how the building is laid out, particularly important information such as where the toilets are, so you won’t be wandering around looking lost on your first day.
•  you have classes or lectures in different rooms, find the rooms first so that you can arrive on time and will not be flustered as you start the class.
• If you have one room where you teach, go in beforehand to set it out the way you like it. Make it your own. You might also use this opportunity to rethink why you have set your teaching room out in a certain way for years and years.
• Spend time familiarising yourself with the phone system. Find out how to get hold of stationery supplies, how to adjust the heating (or find out who does this), unlock the windows, etc.

• Caretakers and maintenance departments are the key source of practical help in schools, colleges and universities. While senior colleagues are showing you around, remember to ask them to introduce you to these people.
• Secretaries, administrators and other support staff are also vital sources of information and support. Make contact with them early on – before you start if possible.
• Hook up with a colleague who has recently joined the school, college or university – they might be able to share thoughts on what they wished they had known about beforehand.
• See if the institution has a ‘buddying’ or mentoring system so you have someone you can go to during the first few weeks. If not, then suggest an informal arrangement with a colleague.
• Even if it is not your natural style, make a big effort to socialise with your new colleagues. Thus can be during coffee breaks or over lunch or by accepting invitations to go out for a drink. Don’t hide in your office, even though you might think you have lots to do. If you are a new manager, take a cake in or organise a social activity.
• Join in. Offer to help organising events, sponsor colleagues who are about to run a marathon and go to school plays and concerts. Try and be seen.
• On the other hand, avoid getting drawn into any staffroom feuds. Be as neutral as possible and don’t take sides: you could be cutting off sources of professional support.

• If you feel comfortable doing so, you can enlist the help of students to show you around the building as well.
• Get hold of as much documentation as you can beforehand about the students, their work, participation in class, discipline problems and so on. Be as well prepared as you can be.

• Don’t expect that everything will go according to plan. You will get lost around the building and get people’s names wrong.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. It may be a long time since you were new, but colleagues want your first few days and weeks to go smoothly.