The first day with a class of 5- and 6-year-olds can feel like there is so much you need to get through.

Names. Rules. Routines. Books. Belongings. Toilets. Lunches. Classroom expectations. Getting-to-know-you activities.

And somewhere amongst all of that, we're supposed to actually get to know the children in front of us.

If I was walking into a classroom of 5- and 6-year-olds tomorrow, my goal wouldn't be to get through a huge list of activities.

My goal on Day 1 would be to make them want to come back on Day 2.

I want every child leaving my classroom knowing:

• My teacher knows who I am.
• I know where my things belong.
• I know what to do when I come in tomorrow.
• I know how to ask for help.
• I feel safe here.
• I can do this.

Everything else can come.

1. Before the children arrive

I would keep the classroom simple, calm and functional.

I deliberately do not 'do' displays. Displays are for the children and should be created and built with the children.

A lot of my displays would begin as working walls and develop with the children as we start learning together.

Your classroom doesn't need to be Pinterest-ready. It needs to be child-ready.

Things I would have prepared:

• Children's names pre-written on name stickers
• Cubby/peg areas clearly numbered
• A list showing which child has which cubby number
• A very simple self-registration activity
• Visual timetable ready
• Simple activities available on tables
• Mini whiteboards and pens accessible
• Everything needed for home time organised in advance

Name stickers

I'd have every child's name already written on a sticker.

As they arrive, I can greet them, check their name and pop their sticker onto their jumper.

This also gives me a really natural opportunity to clarify with the adult dropping them off:

"Is this the name they go by?"

The name on the register isn't always necessarily the name a child uses every day.

I want to know from the beginning:

What will I call you, and what will you introduce yourself as to your new friends?

It's such a tiny detail, but for a child walking into a brand-new environment, hearing the name they actually identify with matters.

2. Give every child a place straight away

I’d make this as straightforward as possible.

I like the idea of numbering cubbies or peg spaces and having a list beside me so that as each child arrives I can say, “You’re number 14, let’s go and find number 14.”

We sometimes forget how much information children are taking in on that first morning. They’re in a new room, possibly a new school, surrounded by new adults and children, and then we’re giving them ten instructions about where their coat, bag, lunch and water bottle need to go.

A number gives them something really simple to remember. The next morning you can ask, “Do you remember your number?” and already you’re beginning to hand that little bit of responsibility over to them.

We're already building independence!

3. Have something they can do without you

I would never plan anything teacher-led for those first 20 or 30 minutes because realistically, I know I’m not going to be available to lead it.

You’ll be greeting children and parents, helping someone find their bag, reassuring someone who is upset, answering questions and probably trying to remember 25 names at the same time.

Have something very simple available:

• Colouring
• Drawing
• Playdough
• A familiar role play corner theme
• Construction
• Simple fine-motor activities
• Familiar table-top resources

That way, once I’ve helped a child settle, I can direct them towards the tables and know they have something they can get on with while I go back to the door.

4. Use self-registration from Day 1

I really like giving children a little job to do when they arrive because it starts to create a morning routine from the very beginning.

I’d have each child’s name somewhere accessible and ask them to find it as part of their self-registration. They could move it onto an “I’m here” board, put it into a bowl or bring it with them when we eventually move to the carpet.

Later, I would give everyone a mini whiteboard and ask them to have a go at writing their name using their name card to help them. I’m not making a big deal out of it and I’m certainly not calling it an assessment, but already I’m getting a little glimpse of who recognises their name, who can write it independently, who needs to copy it, pencil grip, letter formation and confidence.

That’s plenty of information for me on Day 1.

5. Our first carpet time

Once everyone is in and settled, I’d bring us together for our first carpet time, but I’d keep it short.

I might:

• Say hello and welcome everyone
• Introduce ourselves
• Begin learning each other's names
• Talk briefly about how we're feeling
• Look at our visual timetable
• Talk through what we're going to do that day
• Introduce one or two important expectations (For example, how the children must ask to go to the toilet and the expectations around this routine)
• Read a story

I definitely wouldn’t use this time to go through every classroom rule and routine they’ll need for the year. There is no point explaining at 9.15am exactly what I expect them to do when they’re packing up to go home several hours later.

At this age, I'd think in short bursts throughout the day rather than expecting long periods of sitting and listening.

Carpet → movement → activity → routine → snack → play → story → activity

Don't teach every routine at 9am

This is probably one of the biggest things I’d say to anyone going into the first day: you do not have to teach every routine in the first hour.

Teach the routine when they actually need the routine.

I’d teach the snack routine when we’re about to have snack. Before we go outside, we’ll learn how we line up. Before we use particular resources, I’ll show them how we use and put them away. Before home time, we’ll learn what home time looks like.

It makes much more sense to teach a routine in the moment, model it and let them actually practise it than to give them a huge list of instructions in the morning and expect them to remember them all.

And you will repeat yourself. A lot. That’s completely normal. These routines aren’t going to be embedded because you explained them brilliantly once on the first day.

Teach it in context. Practise it. Repeat it tomorrow.

Day 1 IS a teaching day

Just not necessarily in the way we usually think.

I wouldn't be concerned about getting through lots, if any, formal curriculum content on the first day.

Because I am teaching.

I'm teaching children:

• How we come into our classroom
• Where our belongings go
• How we sit together
• How we get the teacher's attention
• How we ask for help
• How we move around our classroom
• How we use our resources
• How we tidy
• How we treat each other
• What happens when we make a mistake
• What being part of our class feels like

That's learning.

And investing time in it now will give you back hours later.

6. Let them play, and watch

While they're playing, I'm observing.

I'm noticing:

• Who immediately finds someone to play with?
• Who hangs back?
• Who communicates confidently?
• Who finds sharing difficult?
• Who seeks adult reassurance?
• Who follows a simple instruction?
• Who seems overwhelmed by the environment?
• Who naturally helps another child?
• Who moves quickly between activities?
• Who becomes deeply engaged in one thing?
• What areas are children naturally gravitating towards and what areas are not being used at all?
• Is the layout of the classroom suiting the children as planned or do I need to make adjustments?

You can learn an enormous amount about your new class without sitting them down and formally assessing them.

7. Get outside

If I can, I’d get outside at some point during the day too. We might walk around the school, see the playground, find the toilets, visit some of the important places they’ll need to know or just go outside and play a simple game.

For some children, the school building itself is going to feel huge, so I want to start making it familiar.

Also, they’re five and six. I don’t need them spending their first day proving to me that they can sit still at a table.

8. Do one simple piece of "work"

I would probably do one very simple first-day activity that I could keep.

Something like:

Me on My First Day

My name is: ________

I am: ________ years old.

Today I feel: ________

Something I love: ________

And a space to draw themselves.

It's lovely to keep and look back on later in the year.

But it also quietly gives me a first glimpse of:

• Pencil grip
• Name writing
• Letter formation
• Fine-motor control
• Drawing
• Language
• Confidence
• Independence

It gives me information without the first day feeling like an assessment day.

9. Read. And then read again.

I’d have a little pile of books beside my chair because stories are honestly one of the easiest ways to reset the room.

If everyone is getting a bit loud or overstimulated, we can have a story. If they’re exhausted after lunch, story. If I suddenly realise I have ten minutes before we need to get ready for home and the activity I planned is absolutely not happening, story.

They’re also a really natural way of starting conversations around school, friendships, feelings and belonging without having to sit down and announce that we are now going to have a discussion about feelings.

One thing I wouldn't rush: the class charter

Obviously, there are boundaries and expectations children need to know from the beginning, but I personally wouldn’t feel the need to have our entire class charter created and signed on Day 1.

They’ve only just met me. They’ve only just met each other. They don’t really know what it means to be part of our class yet.

I’d rather give us some time together and come back to that conversation once they have actually experienced the classroom. Then we can talk about what we need from each other so that everyone can learn, feel safe and enjoy being in our room. I think that conversation becomes much more meaningful when they actually have some context for it.

What might the day actually look like?

This will obviously depend on your school's timings, break times and routines, but roughly:

I wouldn't be precious about sticking to this.

If they're really engaged in play, I'd let it run a little longer. If I realise they're exhausted, I'd change what I had planned. If my first carpet session lasts ten minutes instead of twenty because I can see I've lost them, that's fine.

The plan is there to help me. I'm not there to serve the plan.

Before they go home

I’d make the end of the day calm because I think how we finish Day 1 is just as important as how we start it.

We might sit together to bring the energy back down to calm, and talk about our favourite part of the day, and I’d tell them a little bit about what we’re going to do tomorrow. 

Then we'd very explicitly go through the home-time routine: Where do we get our belongings? Where do we wait? How will we know when it's our turn to leave? 

And then I’d make sure they know I’ll see them tomorrow.

I’m not measuring the success of my first day by how many activities I managed to squeeze in or whether I got through everything on my plan. I’m thinking about whether the children walking out of my classroom know me a little better than they did that morning, whether they know where they belong and whether tomorrow feels a little less unknown.

The displays will come. The routines will come. The curriculum will definitely come.

For me, Day 1 is about giving them a really good reason to want to come back for Day 2 with smiles, confidence and maybe even a little excitement.