We've got to build positive school cultures if we want teachers to be able to thrive. If you're looking to boost morale, promote well-being and increase motivation, here are some ideas and activities you can use yourself, with your team or for the whole staff group. 

For each section, you'll find an ideas page and a printable activity. Feel free to share these around with your teacher friends - the more happy, motivated teachers we have, the better for everyone! 

I'm out to help teachers feel good and teach at their best. I believe that we can achieve this through four key areas:

It's a shame that 'well-being' initiatives and activities have a reputation for 'missing the mark' or feeling tokenistic because we have an undeniable need to see more of them in our schools. We've got to get the talk going, engage in authentic experiences and really build well-being into our school cultures so it's a given - not a bonus. 

I hope you find this resource helpful and that, at the very least, it sets the wheels in motion for building a community of happy and supportive teachers at your school. Together let's make schools the positive environments they should be and make teaching the uplifting experience we all want it to be. 

Ideas and activities to boost morale, promote well-being and increase motivation in your staff group.

Start of Term

Time to head to the character selection screen! Turn yourself into a character for an adventure video game. What are your character’s special abilities and what are their secret weaknesses?

This freebie is a sample from the resource 'Back to School Booklet' 

Check out the 10 activities included in this pack:

2023 is coming at us whether we like it or not... so let's get ready to make it a great one!

How would you sum up 2022? How do you want to be able to sum up 2023? Start the year off with purpose and set yourself up to make the most of the year ahead.

I'm all about teachers taking back control and creating the conditions where we can all thrive. Teaching is tough but together we have the capability to excel AND feel good doing it.

This giveaway comes with a printable affirmation card, goal-setting activity for you (yes, teachers need goals much as their students), and a link to a desktop wallpaper template on Canva which you can customise.

If you'd like to find out more about what's behind this message, you can 

Printable affirmation card, goal setting template for teachers and customisable desktop wallpaper template from attheminute

Featured

2023 is coming at us whether we like it or not... so let's get ready to make it a great one! This free resource comes with a printable affirmation card, a 2023 goal-setting activity for you (yes, teachers need goals much as their students), and a link to a desktop wallpaper template on Canva which you can customise.

Get set for the new school year with these ready-to-go printable activities!

Get set for the new school year with these ready-to-go printable activities! Here's a little bit about each of the worksheets included:

Oh the dreaded start of term goal setting! Forget the fancy wall displays that go untouched for the rest of the year! Keep this goal setting chart in an easy-to-access place and get your students to track each time they take an action towards achieving their goals.

Sick of the same old 'All About Me' worksheets that you do EVERY year? Well, here's a fresh one! It's the same but different. No more "Choose 3 adjectives to describe yourself" ...hooray! Just "3 must-have items for surviving lockdown". Oh. Such fun.

Get your students thinking abstractly - what makes them special? A cup of love, a splash of the giggles, a can of worms and a tinkle of trouble? Flour, eggs and milk are fine too.

Surf's up! Time may be up for the holidays but don't let that stop you riding the wave of summer into your start of term activities! Students can write about or draw the highlight of their holiday. PDF comes with a blank version for colouring in.

Your #1 go-to start of term writing topic: Summer holiday recounts! What screams summer more than ice cream? PDF includes wide and narrow-lined versions.

Your #1 go-to start of term writing topic: Summer holiday recounts! That footwear you see lining the borders is 100% "jandals". "Sandals", "flip-flops" and "thongs"? Ahhh yeah nah mate. PDF includes wide and narrow-lined versions.

Get students generating vocab beyond 'yellow sun' for their summer recounts. Give students this recording chart to brainstorm what they saw, heard, smelt, felt and tasted. Challenge them to add a range of interesting adjectives and verbs.

Create a colourful classroom display with buckets of possibilities. Use this as a one-off activity or make a weekly time to show gratitude and get students to write a post-it message for a peer to 'fill their bucket'.

Ready-to-go printable activities for the start of the school year!

Brighten up your classroom with these editable alphabet and sight word wall displays, inspired by Burano, Venice! These are perfect for junior classrooms to use as visual prompts on the wall or as a set of flash cards for reading and writing practice.

Word Wall | Alphabet & Sight Words | Travel Inspired Classroom Decor | Venice

Brighten up your classroom with these editable alphabet and sight word wall displays, inspired by Burano, Venice! These are perfect for junior classrooms to use as visual prompts on the wall or as a set of flash cards for reading and writing practice. This product includes the hand-drawn Burano houses from 

Alphabet Wall Display | Travel Inspired Classroom Decor | Venice | Bright Theme

There are 97 pages in the PDF version of this resource. This PDF includes a link to a 58-page Google Slides document in which the text can be edited.

My inspiration for this set of classroom decor products came from my whistle-stop trip to Burano, one of the islands north west of Venice. I instantly fell in love with the bright colours and how everything seemed so ‘in place’ despite the seemingly random placement of colours.

I'm going to continue designing classroom decor products inspired by my travels so keep your eyes peeled!

Editable alphabet and sight word wall displays, inspired by Burano, Venice!

Literacy

18 printable worksheets with fun creative activities to kick off a new term! Includes art, design and coding tasks. 

This resource also comes with an American English version and 2024/2025 cover pages!

Creative

Start the new term off with a bang! This booklet contains a range of activities from art to designing an app, to coding and sharing a powerful message with the world! There are 18 printable worksheets that can be used as stand-alone tasks or as a series of activities to get students engaged and excited about the school year ahead.

A fun all about me activity for the start of term. Students design their own denim jacket with drawings and info about themselves. 

Look sharp in your #ORIGINAL denim jacket! This fun back to school activity will get your students' creative juices flowing! Learn about what makes your students unique and create an eye-catching wall display for your classroom...it's a win-win!

This PDF contains 16 versions of my hand-drawn denim jacket design worksheet so you can take your pick on which one you'd like to use! Variations include:

I've also included American English spelling versions where needed :)

These are designed to be printed out A3 size and cut out to make classroom displays.

A colourful number wall display for a primary school classroom. Inspired by the houses of Burano, Venice.

Number Wall Display | Travel Inspired Classroom Decor | Venice | Bright Pastels

This resource contains 3 sets of numbers 1-20, designed to be cut out, laminated and displayed. The first set were hand drawn by me - hope you like them! Just in case you're after less 'busy' displays, I've also created a couple of simplified versions so you can still get your splash of colour without the extras! There are 2 numbers per A4 page (each letter is approx. A5 size).

My inspiration for this classroom display came from my whistle-stop trip to Burano, one of the islands north west of Venice. I instantly fell in love with the bright colours and how everything seemed so ‘in place’ despite the seemingly random placement of colours. Using my photos as the starting point, I came up with several colour schemes and sketched different housing designs to import into and edit on Illustrator. The colour scheme of this resource is

Maths

Count to 20 in style with this number wall display inspired by Burano, Venice! This is the perfect addition to your primary school classroom, giving you a taste of travel and creating a colourful display that students will love too!

Editable student name tags with designs inspired by Venice.

Student Name Tags for Desks | Travel Inspired Classroom Decor | Venice

Check out these editable name labels, inspired by Burano, Venice! Simply type your students' names, print and laminate!

This resource comes in a range of colour schemes and the option to edit the text and background colour on Google Slides. All of the artwork is original hand drawn pieces based on the photos I took on my whistle-stop trip to Burano!

The 4 different colour schemes to choose from are: Brights, Blush, Bright Pastels, and Cools. You will also find a black & white version which just has the outlines so that your students can customise their own name labels!

The start of term is always hectic but is also a super exciting time to recreate your classroom space for your next group of students! If you're after some more travel-inspired classroom deco, check out these other products also inspired by Burano:

Editable name labels for students. Designed to be printed and laminated. 

A blush colour-themed alphabet wall display for your classroom inspired by Burano, Venice!

Alphabet Wall Display | Travel Inspired Classroom Decor | Venice | Blush Theme

This resource contains 3 sets of alphabet letters, designed to be cut out, laminated and displayed. The first set were hand drawn by me - hope you like them! Just in case you're after less 'busy' displays, I've also created a couple of simplified versions so you can still get your splash of colour without the extras! There are 2 letters per A4 page (each letter is approx. A5 size).

My inspiration for this classroom display came from my whistle-stop trip to Burano, one of the islands north west of Venice. I instantly fell in love with the array of colours and how they all seemed so ‘in place’ despite being seemingly random. Using my photos as the starting point, I came up with several colour schemes and sketched different housing designs to import into and edit on Illustrator.

This colour scheme was inspired by one of the rows of houses that I came across. If you're after something a little different, check out this bright colour scheme.

I'm going to continue designing classroom decor products inspired by my travels so keep your eyes peeled! 

Three sets of printable blush coloured alphabet letter displays for a primary school classroom.

Change up your classroom decor this term with a little slice of Venice! This blush colour palette alphabet wall display is the perfect addition to your primary school classroom. Taking inspiration from the colourful houses on the island of Burano, this set of letters will give you a taste of travel and make a beautiful display that students will love too!

A colourful alphabet wall display for your classroom inspired by Burano, Venice!

My inspiration for this classroom display came from my whistle-stop trip to Burano, one of the islands north west of Venice. I instantly fell in love with the bright colours and how everything seemed so ‘in place’ despite the seemingly random placement of colours. Using my photos as the starting point, I came up with several colour schemes and sketched different housing designs to import into and edit on Illustrator.

Three sets of printable Venice-inspired alphabet letter displays for a primary school classroom.

Bring a little slice of Venice to your classroom! This alphabet wall display is the perfect addition to your primary school classroom. Taking inspiration from the colourful houses on the island of Burano, this set of letters will give you a taste of travel and make a colourful display that students will love too!

These worksheets are designed for students to complete independently and can be used as a start of term or fast-finisher activity. The tasks provide a great opportunity to promote discussion around personal preferences and the need to back up your views with reasons.

Students will need a basic understanding of 'bird's-eye view' and keys to complete the first two tasks.

Are your students looking with envy at the class next door wondering why they didn't get brand new modern learning furniture? You may not be able to change anything but what's wrong with dreaming? Get those future designers err...designing!

Dream big or create a cosy hideaway - either goes! Get your students working on their bird's-eye view drawing skills and throw in a key for those fast-finishers!

Get an insight into what your students really rate at school - who knows, they may come up with some brilliant ideas! If not, well I'm sure they'll enjoy the chance to be the master planners!

Are your students always moaning about having Maths first on a Monday? Do they wish there was more time for PE? Let them be the master planners and come up with a new class timetable!

Give your students the opportunity to get creative with these four design tasks! These worksheets are designed for students to complete independently and can be used as a start of term or fast-finisher activity. The tasks provide a great opportunity to promote discussion around personal preferences and the need to back up your views with reasons.

Oh the dreaded start of term goal setting! Forget the fancy wall displays that go untouched for the rest of the year! Keep this goal setting chart in an easy-to-access place and get your students to track each time they take an action towards achieving their goals. Coloured pencils not included. 

A goal setting template for setting two academic and two personal goals. Comes with boxes to shade in as students take actions towards achieving their goals.

Oh the dreaded start of term goal setting! Forget the fancy wall displays that go untouched for the rest of the year! Keep this goal setting chart in an easy-to-access place and get your students to track each time they take an action towards achieving their goals by colouring in a square of the border!

Get students generating vocab beyond 'yellow sun' for their summer recounts. Give students this recording chart to brainstorm what they saw, heard, smelt, felt and tasted. Challenge them to add a range of interesting adjectives and verbs. At the end of the day though, if you still get "I went to the beach. It was hot." at least you tried.

A recording chart for brainstorming summer vocabulary prior to writing. 

A surfboard-shaped template for your summer-themed activities (2 per page).

A writing template with an ice cream border pattern. Includes wide and narrow-lined versions.

A writing template with a jandal border pattern. Includes wide and narrow-lined versions.

So tell me about yourself. Get your students to don their interviewer hats and create bios on each other or, if they have access to the internet, get them researching famous people from a topic you're studying!

A template for gathering key information for writing a biography.

Writing

A blank biography writing template for students to record their research information. Get your students to don their interviewer hats and create bios on each other or, if they have access to texts or the internet, get them researching famous people from a topic you're studying!

Categories include: Background, key life events, achievements, interesting facts and key quote.

A gratitude & positivity activity for students to record things that fill their bucket.

A worksheet for students to assess and redesign their class timetable.

A getting to know you activity to find out more about what makes your students unique!

A Year 1-3 activity for students to redesign their class timetable.

Sick of the same old 'All About Me' worksheets that you do EVERY year? Well, here's a fresh one! It's the same but different. No more  "Choose 3 adjectives to describe yourself" ...hooray! Just "3 must-have items for surviving lockdown". Oh. Such fun. 

A 2023 themed start of year getting to know you worksheet with 23 prompts for finding out what makes your students tick!

Sick of the same old 'All About Me' worksheets that you do EVERY year? Well, here's a fresh one! This worksheet has 23 questions for students to answer about themselves which will give you a great insight into what makes them tick (and what gets on their nerves)!

These can be used as a wall display or tucked away for students to reflect on later in the year.

Categories

attheminute teaching

Start of Term

Well-Being Ideas & Activities

Create a Character FREEBIE from Back to School Booklet

Affirmation Card | 2023 Goal Setting Activity

Start of Term Activities

Word Wall

Back to School Activity Booklet

All About Me Templates - Create your own denim jacket!

Number Wall Display Bright Pastels

Student Name Tags for Desks

Alphabet Wall Display Blush Theme

Alphabet Wall Display Bright Theme

Independent Design Tasks

#GoalSetting

Summer-Themed Senses Recording Chart

Summer Highlights Template - Surfboard

Summer Recount Writing Frame - Ice Cream

Summer Recount Writing Frame - Jandals

Biography Template

What Fills My Bucket

Rethinking the Class Timetable

Recipe for Me - Getting to Know You Activity

My Dream Day at School

23 Takes for 2023 - Getting to Know You Worksheet

attheminute teaching