Establishing a supportive classroom environment from day one builds a strong foundation of positive relationships and attitudes to school and learning. It is important to begin the year as you wish it to continue, and a welcoming classroom helps children and families feel valued. Having an organised classroom is just a part of it.

Many existing readilearn resources support the establishment of a supportive classroom environment.

The free resource Getting ready for the first day with Busy Bee resources lists some of the available resources and suggestions for using them; including:

• Busy Bee Welcome letter template
• Busy Bee Welcome sign
• Busy Bee Desk name template
• Busy Bee Name badge template
• Busy Bee Who is here? – chart heading
• Busy Bee Find your name – poster
• Busy Bee Name card template
• Busy Bee I am . . . first day of school worksheet
• Busy Bee Birthday chart

These resources are available to download individually, or as a collection in the zip folder Busy Bee – Welcome resources for Day one.

In many of the schools in which I have worked, children are expected to bring their own set of supplies – books, pencils, scissors, glue, paint shirts, even tissues. I recognise that not all schools have this requirement, so ignore any suggestions that are not relevant to your situation.

Whether children are required to bring their own supplies or not, it is useful to have spares

Source: readilearn: Establishing a supportive classroom environment from day one – Readilearn