How to Create an Effective Onboarding Process for Teachers
29 Apr, 20251-2 minutes
In this blog, you will learn:
- Why it’s important for schools to have an effective onboarding process for Teachers.
- How to create an effective onboarding process for Teachers.
- About the education recruitment services available to your school.
Could it be time to rethink your onboarding process? Successfully onboarding new Teachers is no mean feat, especially when it comes to ensuring you retain the best talent for your school.
With a shortage of Teachers across the UK, an effective onboarding experience is more than just about hiring the best staff - it’s about creating a seamless transition for new Teachers joining your school.
Onboarding Teachers is crucial for shaping the success and stability of a school and a disorganised onboarding process can have a negative impact on long-term Teacher performance and engagement.
Throughout this blog, we delve into how to create an effective onboarding process and how to set clear expectations for Teachers in the long term.
Why is it important for schools to have an effective onboarding process for Teachers?
An onboarding process determines the way a new employee is integrated into an organisation or business. A successful onboarding process should help them understand their role and enlighten them to the company culture and policies.
An effective onboarding process helps Teachers understand school policies, curriculum expectations, safeguarding procedures and more. Onboarding plays a key role in addressing staff retention challenges by helping Teachers settle in and providing them with the structure, support and clarity they need to adapt to their workplace, quickly and confidently.
Onboarding and its role in Teacher wellbeing
Starting a new teaching position can be stressful, with the challenge of meeting new people, learning new processes, and adjusting to a new environment. Effective onboarding helps reduce anxiety, fosters a sense of belonging, and improves staff performance.
Onboarding provides opportunities for Teachers to navigate their new surroundings in terms of the classrooms and key facilities in the school. Every Teacher needs to familiarise themselves with how the working day runs and what role every member of staff plays in the school.
In primary settings, knowing routines, behaviour systems and how to work with Teaching Assistants is crucial. In secondary schools, understanding department structures, referral pathways and classroom management expectations can build confidence and as a result, improve a new Teacher’s mental wellbeing.
According to the Teacher Wellbeing Index, 78% of Teachers are stressed. The same data found that 45% of staff say they have experienced symptoms of anxiety in the past year, 35% have experienced symptoms of burn-out and 28% have experienced symptoms of depression.
With Teacher mental health under increasing strain, ensuring a smooth onboarding process for new employees, can be instrumental in providing a safe and supportive environment that prioritises employee wellbeing.
How to create an effective onboarding process for Teachers
5 strategies to create an effective onboarding process for Teachers:
- Personalise the onboarding experience.
- Demonstrate the school culture.
- Offer curriculum and planning support.
- Provide ongoing professional development.
- Gather onboarding feedback.
Personalise the onboarding experience
Different Teachers will adapt in different ways to a new workplace and it’s important to accept that one onboarding approach might not work for all. Some new starters may fit in seamlessly, whereas others may need additional support to find their footing, whether that be more input or training.
You don’t have to follow a specific structure, but instead think about how you can personalise the onboarding experience based on the individual and their preferences or needs. Adapt your approach to create an onboarding process that helps new Teachers feel welcomed and ready to engage.
Not only does personalising the onboarding process feed your new Teacher with the right information to succeed, it also ensures they feel appreciated, included and empowered. If a Teacher sees the personal value your school gives them from the very first day, this can positively improve employee experience and employee satisfaction.
How to personalise the onboarding experience for Teachers
How to personalise the onboarding experience for Teachers:
- Develop onboarding content that is tailored to the specific needs and interests of each new Teacher.
- Send personal onboarding emails.
- Arrange regular meetings and check-ins depending on the Teacher’s preferences and needs.
- Provide appropriate training or support where necessary.
Demonstrate the school culture
Every school is different and understanding the school culture means getting to know the school’s values and expectations. It’s important that employers integrate new Teachers into the school’s culture to help create a sense of belonging when they start their new role.
To effectively onboard, provide opportunities for Teachers to understand the school’s values and practices, so they can carry these lessons into their new role. For example the school’s values might be ‘integrity’ to ensure that education is carried out to the highest standard, or ‘innovation’ to encourage new ideas and creative approaches to teaching.
Demonstrate your school’s culture as part of your onboarding process by providing Teachers with opportunities to connect with colleagues and build relationships, as well as familiarise themselves with the school’s environment and values.
Introduce key personnel, pair new hires with buddies or organise a social event to generate a positive company culture, improve how staff work and positively impact productivity.
Offer curriculum and planning support
A significant way to create a successful onboarding process for Teachers is to ensure that they feel prepared and fully engaged from their very first day. Introduce new Teachers to behaviour policies and marking expectations and grant access to planning templates and departmental resources early on.
Providing support from the outset, means Teachers are more likely to deliver high quality teaching and helping your teaching staff with curriculum support maintains continuity for pupils.
Take each term at a time highlighting key term dates, staff meetings or curriculum handovers to give Teachers the opportunity to prepare for anything up and coming.
Provide ongoing professional development
An effective onboarding process should include ongoing professional development opportunities to support career growth, helping Teachers refine their skills and improving classroom management. There are plenty of areas where Teachers may need subject specific support or strategies, such as behaviour management, effective curriculum planning and assessment practices.
By offering targeted training sessions and keeping Teachers updated on the best teaching practices, through workshops and seminars, employers can enhance the onboarding process.
By continuing to expand knowledge and skills, Teachers are given equal opportunities to develop their careers and enable them to better meet the needs of their students.
Gather onboarding feedback
For schools to successfully optimise the onboarding process, they may wish to seek feedback from new starters. Feedback can help employers identify areas of improvement to prevent Teachers from experiencing a rocky start to their new role.
Schools are advised to regularly solicit feedback from new Teachers and use it to refine and improve the onboarding experience for future hires. An effective measure to do so includes creating a process for new Teachers to address concerns and seek assistance anonymously, such as a suggestions box or survey. Anonymous feedback is often more honest and therefore will benefit schools looking to improve their onboarding measures.
By collecting feedback, you can use it to personalise the onboarding experience and ensure that you are providing effective support and reducing employee turnover.
Recruit teaching staff
As a specialist education recruitment agency, we support mainstream and SEND schools with their temporary, permanent and temp-perm staffing needs.
We currently work with hundreds of schools and have exclusive access to some of the best Teachers and Teaching Assistants in the North West.
If you’re struggling to fill a teaching vacancy, why not get in touch with one of our team to see how we can help?
- Primary schools - Jimmy Callagher
- Secondary schools - Liam Jones
- SEND schools - Jamie Heath
Teaching jobs
If you’re searching for your next teaching job, why not take a look at the latest teaching vacancies, or simply upload your CV to be notified when a relevant position becomes available.
Meet Jamie Heath
Who is Spencer Clarke Group?
Established in 2017, we’re an award winning and progressive recruitment agency based in the heart of the North West. Our reputation is built on trust, expertise and an unwavering commitment to exceed expectations.
In 2024, we were named Recruitment Agency of the Year at the prestigious Recruiter Awards, an accolade we are extremely proud of.
We operate in two sectors:
In eleven specialisms:
Healthcare, Social Care & Nursing
Corporate Functions & Business Support
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