The fascination of watching your colleagues at work

Perhaps one of the most interesting experiences that a primary teacher can have is that of witnessing the day to day activity of a colleague in the classroom.

Quite often it is not the overall structure and approach to a lesson which grabs the attention, but the way in which the smaller moments and events are handled.

One obvious example is the way in which teachers organise times of transition. What do you do with children who finish tasks before the others are ready to move on? Everyone has a few favoured activities for such moments – but it is often the case that alternatives are welcome. And this is what can be observed when visiting a colleague’s classroom.

These are the types of activities that we have now gathered together: the activities that teachers across the country use to cover short periods of time within the school day.

They cover a wide range of different subject areas including English, maths, thinking skills, science and PSHE skills. Each activity has an estimated time for completion, anywhere between 3 and 10 minutes and answers are also included.

These resources can be used as class activities, as homework or for those gifted and talented children who finish the other set work first.

There is more information and free sample pages available on our website by clicking the links below:

Timely Tasks for Fast Finishers aged 5-7 years

Timely Task for Fast Finishers aged 7-9 years

Timely Tasks for Fast Finishers aged 9-11 years

You can order these resources in any of these ways:

  • On our website at the above web links
  • By phone on 01449 766629
  • By fax on 01449 767122
  • By email to orders@tradecounter.co.uk
  • By post to Brilliant Publications, c/o Trade Counter Distribution, Mendlesham Industrial Estate, Norwich Road, Mendlesham, Suffolk, IP14 5ND.