Diary of an NQT: A spanner in the works

I have already been through the rigmarole of new routines as my school went back. As I sit back and reflect, I am considering all the things that I thought I would need in place for a successful beginning to the term. I had worked hard to organise myself in some key areas only for the beginning of term rush to send me right back to the drawing board.

Seating plans: Seating plans (for me, anyway) relieve a huge amount of stress and anxiety about welcoming new faces into my classrooms. For most of us, seating plans will be mandatory by a certain point in the first half-term – scribbled with data, Pupil Premium details and information alike.
Trying to be organised, I decided to do my seating plans at the end of the summer term. I’d received class lists and spent hours meticulously placing the students. Of course, coming into school last week, sets had changed last-minute, and other information had been updated. I was completely thrown off.
I also gauged that some students weren’t best placed among others resulting in some small disruptions as I tweaked things... Although it seems minor, these things for an NQT can throw us off. I’ve now realised that data and other sheets of information may give us an insight, but it doesn’t fill a whole picture.
A colleague kindly offered to take a look at my seating plans, so if you’re concerned it may be worth asking your mentor or others in your department.