5 fun summer end of term activities for teachers

Planning fun summer end of term activities is often left until the last minute, and understandably so! Teachers are overburdened with other tasks towards the end of the school year.

It can be a challenge for children (and adults!) to remain focused towards the end of the term. Knowing that the long summer holidays are right around the corner can make keeping children focused even more difficult towards the end of term.

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 some valuable feedback for yourself and for 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 those that might need a bit of extra support.

Make it memorable with these fun summer end of term activities

1. Hold an end of year awards ceremony

Holding a classroom awards ceremony gives the entire class an opportunity to celebrate the positive and joyful things about both themselves and their classmates. You could make little certificates to hand out 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 and this Congratulations Certificate.

2. Get some feedback

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.

3. Who am I?

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 this summer end of term activities like these in class, we have seen how honest and accurate the children are. It's a useful, and rather lovely, thing to pass on to your successor.

4. Give some advice

Get your pupils to share their new-found wisdom with next year’s class. Ask them to write down pieces of advice 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!

5. End on a high

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 which they can then read later.

Hand out notecards for the children fill in. Place each child’s in an envelope they have personalised. Alternatively, if you are feeling especially creative, 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!

Not only are these summer end of term activities are fun, but they're also a great way to ensure you end the school year on a positive note.

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? Twitter educators, please do share your brilliant summer end of term activities with our members:

#Reward your class at the end of term with these #free downloadable certificates!http://t.co/iHd8jlSSxi
#summer #teaching

— PlanBee (@PlanBeeTeaching) July 16, 2015