At the beginning of a new academic year, most teachers are high spirited, motivated and enthusiastic to start teaching and give their best to learners. As reflective teachers, we start by thinking and planning how we are going to welcome our learners and how we are going to make them feel comfortable. We feel very concerned about how to introduce ourselves to newcomers in the school since it is a well-known fact that the first impression impacts significantly on learners. We also want to have complete control over them, establish our authority and be respected by them.

How do we overcome these difficulties? How do we reveal our heartfelt concern for our learners to them?

Carole Raynal (38 years of experience in teaching), principal of a secondary school, claims that it is of the utmost importance that teachers make each and every learner feel welcome and comfortable. ?Newcomers, repeaters or the usual lot resuming school after the holidays, all must be welcomed so that they do not feel like strangers or intruders in their own school!? She emphasises that right from the very first day, teachers should be able to express to their learners their happiness to be working with them. ?They should tell their students that they are pleased to work with them and face the coming year together with them.? She also suggests that, ?very simple things like taking time to talk to learners and learning their names enables the teacher to get acquainted with them.? Hence, learners feel that the teacher is interested in and concerned by them. This will facilitate their adaptation and integration in the new school?s environment and culture.

She also points out that students joining a new school are newcomers at the beginning of the year, but should not be considered as outsiders or referred to as newcomers throughout the year. ?They belong to the school and they should feel part of the school community!? Similarly, students coming to repeat a class cannot be referred to as ?repeaters? throughout the whole year. Such discrimination is, indeed, very harmful to learners? self-esteem and integration into the new class. ?These children already come to school with their problems and anxieties, such as finding themselves with learners often younger than themselves and being friendless.? Therefore, it is the duty of the teacher to make them feel welcome and comfortable. ?The teacher can show them that repeating a class is not a punishment inflicted upon them. It is the outcome of a number of factors, among which one might be that they did not learn their lessons well.? Indeed, repeating a class is a second chance given to them and they should make the most of it. It is a lesson for life since we all need to be given a second chance in life and we should not waste it!

As far as discipline and classroom management are concerned, Carole Raynal states that ?the teacher sets the tone right from the beginning. He/she explains to his/her students that there are rules to be respected everywhere ?at home as at work. Similarly, they will have to abide by the rules of the school. The teacher must also be firm about what is negotiable and what is not negotiable, and be very explicit about his/her expectations in terms of students? behaviour and participation. We cannot take things for granted!? She proposes that eventually both teacher and students can collaborate and come up with a contract which would clearly state what will be punishable or not punishable.

To conclude, Carole Raynal advises all teachers to give a very warm welcome to their learners, to encourage and discipline them right from the beginning so that they can face the year with confidence and high self-esteem.

Shardha SANDAPEN