One thing is certain when it comes to timetables - the timetable you make in September won't be the timetable you finish with in June! In fact, it may very well look different between the start and end of September! The main thing to remember is that it's a working document and can be changed depending on the needs of your class.
Particularly at the start of the year, you'll start to realise areas where you've given too much/too little time. You might see that an activity or subject gets better engagement when done at a different time of the day. Using that first month to iron out your timetable as much as possible and will pay off in terms of setting yourself up for success for the rest of the year!
Once I have my timetable decided on, I try to stick to it as much as possible - children like and benefit from routine. Are there times when things get missed or skipped? Absolutely! You can't account for the various school events that might disrupt your plan and there might be times when lessons run over for a variety of reasons. Don't worry! Take note of what was missed, and balance it out in your plan for the following week.
Fitting Everything In
There really aren't enough hours in the day, particularly in the Junior or Senior Infants classroom where you also need to factor in the extra time it takes them to tidy up, transition between lessons, eat lunch, get their coats on etc.
The curriculum outlines 'Suggested Time Allocations' for each curriculum area/subject. The new Primary Framework, which is being implemented from September 2024, has moved to giving monthly allocations from some areas. This really highlights the flexibility needed in your planning/timetabling, you don't need to get every subject covered every week! Although, in Infants, you will likely touch on most areas anyway without even realising - music is often integrated into Gaeilge lessons, maybe your Maths lesson on shapes will incorporate an Arts activity, in Literacy you might be looking about a book science etc.
As a teacher in a DEIS school, my children need much more explicit literacy instruction than is outlined in the curriculum's suggested time allocations. 3 hours 15 minutes is really not enough for me. Don't worry if you need to do more or less, you know the needs of your class and can make a professional judgement on your timetabling. I'd happily explain my reasoning to an inspector!
Suggested Structure
Everyone’s timetable will be different, but here are some of the ways that I structure my timetable!
Start every day with a morning activity (15mins) - this doesn't change for me throughout the entire year. There is an activity on each table every morning when the children walk into the classroom. Main focus of the activities are fine motor, with some literacy and numeracy integrated in. Important the children can do the activity independently. Gives children a chance to have a little chat with their friends, lets late-comers arrive without disturbing a lesson and gives me a chance to greet children or complete assessments.
Daily morning meeting (15mins) - Our morning meeting always happens straight after we tidy up our morning activities. Greet class, go through the day's timetable, community building activities etc.
2-3 lessons/activities before break - Morning time is generally when attention and focus is at it's best! 2 or 3 might sound like a lot, but one might be something as quick as a little phonemic awareness game.
Make time for play - Play will permeate your day as an Infant teacher, but it's important you also carve out stand alone child-led play. You want to try and give at least 40 minutes to the time, so the children can really explore their play. I do one lesson after break, usually our UFLI/Phonics lesson, then we move onto play up until lunchtime.
Don't forget tidy time - Children can be very messy! It's important to establish from the start the importance of tidying up after themselves, for many it'll be a skill that you need to explicitly teach. In my timetable I always factor in enough time to ensure children can tidy up themselves - particularly at the start of the year, give yourself more time than you think you'll need! We finish each day with tidy time where we all help to reset the classroom for the following day.
Specific times for literacy areas - I mentioned that I give extra time to literacy instruction in my class, due to the needs of my children. I follow explicit phonemic awareness, phonics and writing programmes so I allocate a set time to these different lessons. That's not to say that there isn't also times where we integrate them altogether!
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