Tips for Year 7 Form Tutors

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Having just read the behaviour tips thread, I love the idea of gathering expertise and tips from all the different types of teacher out there.

In September, I will be training a group of Year 7 form tutors, all new to my school and most new to teaching. I've got lots of ideas of my own but the interesting thing about the behaviour thread was that lots of the tips were different from my own approach so please could I have your suggestions?

The context - it's a suburban comprehensive and we have 28 feeder primaries, full range of ability intake, even split between boys and girls, social mix with relatively comfortable middle class families as the main group but obviously a full range. Behaviour in school is generally good with some low level disruption and a good slice of arrogance and pupils who will argue the toss over any challenge; overall, most pupils are lovely-ish. There's a small but significant group of pupils struggling with anxiety.

Any tips will be gratefully received and passed on to the newbies.

I was a Year 7 tutor in the year before this one, then took my group on into Year 8, which we have just finished.

I was very strict in Year 7. We have a bell at 09:15 which means students can enter the school building, go to their lockers and the toilets and enter their tutor rooms. At 09:25 there is a second bell and when this goes the students must be sat down in their tutor rooms and tutor time begins. Unfortunately, where our Year 7 lockers and tutor rooms were, the bell could not be head. So, even though I wanted to have 10 more minutes to prepare for the day ahead, I used to go to the lockers at 09:15 and announce "the first bell has gone", you have 10 minutes until tutor time. Then I would sit in the tutor room and invariably deal with queries about lost property or just have a chance to chat sociably with those who came and sat down before 09:25. At 09:25 I would call them in to the tutor room if they weren´t there already.

I kept on top of lateness, uniform infractions, forgotten planner, etc. with a breaktime detention for the first offence, a lunchtime detention for the second and then referred upwards to the co-ordinator.

We kept to a timetable for tutor time with Monday being planner check, Tuesday House assembly, Wednesday key stage assembly, Thursday PSHE and Friday silent reading. In tutor time they were allowed to sit where they wished (with the threat of a seating plan if they could not listen quietly) and had to be seated with bags on the floor and listening quietly where necessary. Also no doing homework during tutor time.

It was hard work and I did envy the tutors who just sat at their desk drinking coffee whilst World War 3 went on around them, but this past year, Year 8, has been so easy. They knew all of the "rules" and just got on with it.

At the same time, we have had lots of fun doing House or charity activities together, I bring in sweets once or twice a term, usually after a period of exams. I try to come and watch them when they are participating in activities at lunchtimes, and organise PSHE topics and activities that I hope they will find interesting and enjoyable. Each month I run a tally of housepoints and reward those who have achieved the highest totals in the tutor group.

Sorry for the long post. Basically by being consistent, and strict, in Year 7, I hope I have built a good foundation for the tutor group in the future and our relationship also seems to be strong and positive. It is hard to go backwards and implement rules retrospectively. Year 7s are basically a blank canvas and it is up to the tutor to guide them in the right direction; yes, of course, they will want to rebel when they´re a little older, but they can get a good foundation in their first year or two and get into healthy habits.

Thanks Happy.

I'd agree with Happy about the "being strict"...although I don't necessarily think that they are a blank canvas. They've already been in school for seven years before arriving at secondary. It's not as if they aren't used to rules and consequences for breaking them. Some secondary staff I have met seem to think that Year 7s are little things, that break and falls to pieces when you bollock them and who have no clue at all. Sorry...but they aren't. (I admit, I used to make the same mistake with Reception children when I moved into primary.)
I've just waved my Year 6s off. They were very well behaved. It was a bit disheartening when they came back from their induction day with "Miss, our tutor isn't strict at all...not like you. One boy waved his phone in front of him, taking photos and he didn't even say nothing. We were messing about and he didn't even tell us off." They are well aware that this isn't appropriate but now seem to have the impression that it's OK at secondary school...or that they'll at least get away with it.
I would think that this will make it so much harder for anyone else teaching them, if their tutors don't set the standard right from the beginning.

Agree with minispringroll. It´s still possible to gain their trust and be someone they will come to with a problem whilst being firm and consistent with rules.

The mobile phone anecdote nearly made me explode! Haha.

Agree. They won't hate them just because their tutors have high expectations and hold them to these. Most children are quite happy with set routines and rules.
I used to be quite 'protective' of my tutor group (always had the first year cohort and the moved them up to different tutors in the following year), particularly in the beginning. I'd accompany them to the Art room or DT room for their first lesson, line them up and then hand them to their subject teacher. It also meant that I'd collect other first year groups for PE or French or IT (or whatever else I'd take them for) from their tutor room for the first lesson, if their tutors couldn't bring them.
In my PPA time, I used to wander past to check on them...and sometimes additionally talk to those, who'd been kicked out and were standing in the corridor.
Parental contact is important. Most parents are used to be quite in touch with teachers at primary school and secondary appears a lot more distant. I'd try and ring about good and bad things early on, usually trying to catch parents on the phone before their children had made it home.

It's great to read that Happy is bothering much. I hope the kids I've sent up get such a lovely and caring tutor.

Being...goodness. My English isn't that bad, really. On phone... Have had quite a bit to drink already...and we are an hour ahead at the moment, so quite late. Sorry.

Thanks, Minispringroll. Agree with you about keeping in touch with parents, about good and bad things, to nip things in the bud and to show them that they can get in touch with you about any concerns (secondary school seems a bit faceless after primary to most parents, I think).

Also, to the OP, tell your tutors to keep a copy of their tutees´ timetables inside their own planner so they know where to find them during the school day, if necessary. Also you know which subject is which day so, for example, if someone has been pulled up for forgetting Maths homework or being late to Geography, you can remind them in the morning on the relevant day, (or, if you´re free, escort them there / spy on them yourself!)

I will be an NQT with a year 7 tutor group of my own in less than two weeks - some great ideas on this thread. I've met them once on induction day (which was also my induction day as I'm new too) and they seem quite needy with a handful who I can see are going to be quite challenging behaviourwise.

The tutor I was paired with in training was the 'sit back and drink coffee' type and with no routine it was chaos most days. They responded well to some activities but the 'sit and chat' was pretty well ingrained so I'm looking forward to having my own group from the start.

My instinct is to look after them and mother them a bit but equally I have been told I care too much - how much is too much? How much time should being a tutor take up?

I think we have a rota of activities and assemblies but I would personally find 'this works well' useful in any training.