Planning fun summer end of term activities is often left until the last minute, and understandably so! There is just so much to fit in towards the end of the school year.
It can be challenging for children (and adults!) to remain focused towards the end of the term. Coping with all the changes, feeling tired and knowing that the long summer holidays are right around the corner can make staying focused difficult.
The end of the school year is a great time to reflect on the time you and your class have spent together.
Giving children time to reflect on their progress and development throughout the year is a great learning opportunity and a chance to celebrate all the happy memories you share.
Additionally, it's also an ideal time to gather valuable feedback for yourself and the next teacher of your class.
Remember, some children, and adults too, find endings harder than others. The end of the school year can be a time of big emotions – so make sure you keep an eye out for anyone who might need extra support.
Holding a classroom awards ceremony allows the entire class to celebrate the positive and joyful things about themselves and their classmates. You could give certificates to each child to commemorate what makes them unique and special.
It's essential that all the awards are positive, and that you don’t miss anyone out!
We have loads of free certificates to choose from, including this Golden Star Award Certificate.
Show your class you value their opinions. Find out what they enjoyed the most, and what they found the most challenging.
Remembering and talking about past events is great for children's brains and mental health.
Not only will it be useful for you to know so it can inform next year's planning, but neuroscience proves that spending time remembering and talking about past events is great for the brain and mental health.
Dr Dan Siegal says that remembering to remember helps the brain integrate implicit and explicit memories. We found the article by Verywell Mind about how Implicit and Explicit memory influence learning and behaviour particularly interesting.
Get your class to record information they think their new teacher should know about them. For example, they could write a letter of introduction to their new class teacher.
This information can help inform your handover meetings. What better way to introduce a child than starting from how they see themselves?
Give your students guidance on what to include in their letter of introduction. They might include their favourite subjects, what they struggle with, what they like to do in their spare time, or how they would describe their behaviour.
These free Knowing Me, Knowing You Cards are perfect for this activity. If you prefer you can make the activity open ended and can give your class free reign.
When we have done activities like these in class, we have seen how honest and accurate the children are. It's a useful, and lovely, thing to pass on to your successor.
Get your pupils to share their new-found wisdom with next year’s class. Ask them to write down advice to pass on to your new intake of learners.
You could ask your departing class to go through the alphabet and think of a piece of advice starting with each letter!
A lovely way to celebrate the end of the year is to get your pupils, and the adults that work with your class, to write down (or say) one nice thing about each other that they can revisit later.
Hand out notecards for the children to fill in. Place each child’s note in an envelope they have personalised. Alternatively, bind them to make a little book for each child. A quicker option is to use a website to create a word cloud for each pupil.
This is a lovely way to end the term. It gets pupils to consider not only how they feel about their friends, but also how to find goodness and positivity in every one of their class members.
You can even ask them to do it for you – it’s always nice to hear the good things your class thinks about you, too!
These summer end of term activities are fun and a great way to ensure you end the school year on a positive note.
This activity pack contains loads of fun activities suitable for primary aged children. Including fun questions to ask, instructions for making a memory box, an A to Z of the year's learning sheet, reflections cards, summer bucket lists and a letter challenge. Download your FREE End of Term Activity Pack from PlanBee.
Now, it's your turn! What activities do you have up your sleeve to help you get through the last few weeks of the school year?
Please share your brilliant summer end of term activities in the comments below.
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