Back to school ideas for secondary teachers

Welcome your tutor group with top resources, fun activities, and practical ideas to build connections, set expectations, and foster a positive classroom culture.

Tes Resources Team

Back to school resources for secondary teachers 2025

Resources, activities, and ideas to help you feel prepared, confident, and inspired for those all-important first days back in the classroom

As the back to school buzz begins to build, your mind might be turning to those first few lessons, tutor time sessions, and assemblies. To help ease the transition from holiday mode to classroom routines, we’ve gathered a selection of tried-and-tested resources and ideas designed to support a smooth and positive start to the new academic year.

Looking for back to school resources for primary? Click here 

Introducing students to secondary school

One of our valued authors Mrspatersonteaches is an Assistant Head of English, Literacy Lead and ECT mentor in a secondary school. Here's what Mrspatersonteaches has to say about the resource they have shared with the teaching community on Tes. 

'Back to School can be hectic! This ready-to-go, editable presentation saves you time and gives you a solid structure to kick things off. It helps you set expectations, introduce yourself and the subject, and start the year with clarity and consistency. Use these slides as part of your very first lesson to set a calm, positive tone. Every year, my students appreciate how relaxed and clear our first lesson felt. Starting with a friendly welcome slide helped ease those first-day nerves, and enabled them to get to grips with a new teacher! They liked knowing what to expect and felt reassured right from the start. Plus, I feel just as accountable for holding up my end of their expectations too.'  

More resources to welcome your students back

Getting to know you icebreaker activities
mrshopehistory

Getting to know you icebreaker activities

£2.70
(1)
A highly presented and detailed getting to know you/ meet your class pack of ice breaker activities. This resource is perfect to back to school and/or getting to know your new class or tutor group and helping them bond with one another. Included in the PPT are a total of 9 different activities des...
GETTING TO KNOW YOU - Tutor Group Induction Worksheet
ArtyBoxx

GETTING TO KNOW YOU - Tutor Group Induction Worksheet

FREE
(2)
A good resources to help welcome a new tutor group in to your classroom and get to know them a little better. This worksheets asks students to fill in lot's of information about themselves, which is useful at the start of the year. Ideal for new Year 7s or groups you are meeting for the first time.
All About Me Editable Art & Writing Booklet
MathsByHeart

All About Me Editable Art & Writing Booklet

£3.75
(1)
Help your students to get to to know each other with this interactive "All About Me" phone booklet back-to-school activity! Perfect as a transition day activity too! Your students can personalise their phone with drawings and answer fun "chat bubble" questions to share their in...

Back to school activity booklet

Ease your students back into school life with the beautifully designed Back to School Activity Booklet by attheminuteteaching — a ready-to-go resource packed with engaging worksheets that help you get to know your class while encouraging students to build friendships with their peers. Perfect for those first few days, these activities are ideal for creating a warm, welcoming classroom environment and supporting social connection, all while saving you valuable planning time. Just print, grab, and go!

Back to School Activity Booklet
Katherine ChungKatherine Chung

Back to School Activity Booklet

£3.00
(1)
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 exci...

More engaging activities for your form group

Dingbats Quiz - Back to school edition
mrshopehistory

Dingbats Quiz - Back to school edition

£1.13
(1)
Included in your Dingbats: Back to School edition download is a Dingbats quiz sheet, instructions on how to play/ideas on how to use in the classroom and a full answer sheet. Dingbats is very literally a game of say what you see ! Use as a starter, plenary, part of a quiz, form-time fun or si...
Tutor Time Quiz (1)
Maths4Everyone

Tutor Time Quiz (1)

FREE
(45)
A self-playing multi-topic quiz with 20 questions (and answers). Ideal for tutor-time. Click tes.com/../tutor-time-quiz to download similar-style quizzes. Suitable for older primary and all secondary students. The self-playing version is timed to last 15 minutes, but I have included a non-tim...
Tutor notices
Matthew White

Tutor notices

FREE
(1)
I have created this template for tutor notices to share messages with your class, with space for Star of the Week/Day, and outline the week ahead. For neon light effect download and install Las Enter font (FREE for personal use) https://www.dafont.com/lasenter.font
Four Corners back to school getting-to-know you activity
englilearn

Four Corners back to school getting-to-know you activity

£2.50
(1)
Welcome to the ultimate **icebreaker** for your** middle and high school classrooms**! Kickstart the school year with this engaging and interactive Back to School Get-to-Know-You Four Corners Activity. This unique resource is designed to **foster connections, encourage interaction, and create a posi...
Back to School Assembly
TrueTube

Back to School Assembly

FREE
(38)
Welcome back! An assembly for Key Stages 3 and 4 to help your students think about what they want to achieve on the next stage of life's journey. There&'s a short film, some games and a PowerPoint presentation too. More resources like this can be downloaded for free from: www.truetube.co.uk

Help your students plan ahead

Kick off the academic year with a creative and purposeful activity using this fantastic visual resource by MissPepperPot, designed to help students set and reflect on their personal goals. With this interactive target spinner, students answer key questions about what they hope to achieve, why their goals matter, and how they can make them attainable. The spinner becomes a personalised, hands-on tool they can revisit throughout the year, encouraging ownership of their learning journey and helping them stay focused and motivated. Ideal for form time, PSHE, or classroom displays, this resource is a fun and effective way to get students thinking smart from day one.

Smart Goals, Smart Goals Spinner, Smart Target Wheel
Miranda PembertonMiranda Pemberton

Smart Goals, Smart Goals Spinner, Smart Target Wheel

£1.00
(2)
Smart Goals, Smart Goals Spinner, Smart Target Wheel This is a fun way to record students' SMART goals. They can record their goals and then use the wheel as a handy reference when they need reminding of their targets. The Smart Goals poster included with the pack also helps them to remember to m...