The last half of the summer term can be a difficult time for Year 6 teachers. Once the high-stakes Sats are over, the children (and even some parents) may begin to feel that the important teaching has finished.

There is a danger that the last few weeks of primary school can seem to drift along, ending in a rather unsatisfactory way.

We work hard to make sure this doesn’t happen. Over the years, we have come up with a number of strategies to make sure the children have a positive, fully engaged end to their time in our school. Here’s how we do it.

Stick to your timetable

Try to keep the timetable as normal and balanced as possible. Our English and maths lessons continue straight after the tests have finished, starting on the Friday morning of Sats week. We want to make sure the children understand that the tests are only a small part of what makes a successful primary school experience; keeping things normal after they have finished helps with that.

Hold events

Plan events for the children to look forward to and remind them about these regularly, making sure all the children know what to expect and when to expect it. Having an educational visit, a leavers’ party or a sports day to work towards will help to re-energise children who may be thinking that Year 6 is finished once the last Sats paper is over.

It’s important to build a trip or visit into your curriculum plan, as this means you can talk about it in terms of a learning experience, rather than just a reward or a treat.

Working towards a visit and then following it up when you return is always a good way to bring the curriculum to life, but it’s even more valuable at this time of year.

Engage with secondary schools

As well as the usual visits from secondary colleagues, we plan an enhanced transition programme for those children who need some extra reassurance about the move to the next school.

This can involve things such as extra visits and creating opportunities for these children to spend more time with Year 7 coordinators. We also allocate time for children who may be nervous about transition to talk to our family support worker.

Work with parents

Good communication between home and school is always important, but even more so as a child’s time in primary school comes to an end.

Getting parents involved in end-of-term events is a great way to support this communication. We ask parents to help plan and prepare our Year 6 leavers’ party, giving us the opportunity to see them and talk to them more than we might otherwise. It also means that the school benefits from their skills and expertise to create a fun and exciting party for the children to look forward to.

Be kind to yourself

Remember that everyone’s physical and mental energy diminishes as the summer term draws to an end.

The children will be preparing themselves psychologically to leave us for the next stage of their education, so they may push against us a bit more than usual. If you expect this, you can have tools in place to make sure that any potential upset can be minimised.

But after a long year, you will be tired too, so don’t be too hard on yourself. The best way to make sure that your children stay engaged is for you to be at the top of your game - and that starts with taking the time to take care of yourself.

Roy Souter is headteacher at Stoke Hill Junior School in Exeter