Make the Last Term Count

Andy McHugh

Why the final half term is the perfect time to reflect, refocus, and invest in your own development.

It’s the final stretch of the school year. The sun is (sometimes) shining, the kids are a bit more restless than usual, and your to-do list is growing by the day. If you’re anything like most teachers, you’re clinging to the promise of the summer holidays while frantically juggling last-minute tasks, end-of-year reports, and a long list of jobs that all feel urgent.

At this point in the year, it’s easy to get swept up in what I call busy-work. You know the kind. Sorting out display boards. Creating fresh classroom resources for September. Printing out new labels. Colour-coding your cupboards. Making everything look shiny and organised before the final bell rings. It’s satisfying, in a way. You feel like you’re achieving something. But when the dust settles, how much of it actually makes a difference?

That’s the question we often avoid. Not because we don’t care about impact, but because we’re knackered. Busy-work feels easier than deeper thinking, especially when we’re running on empty. But what if this last half term could be something more than just a race to tidy things up? What if we gave ourselves permission to stop, reflect and refocus?

It might not feel like it, but now is one of the best times in the school year to press pause and take stock. The pressure of exams and assessments has eased. The lessons still matter, but there’s often a little more space to breathe. And in that space, we have the chance to do something that could actually make a difference to our practice and our careers. Not just for next year, but long term.

Start by thinking about what you’ve learned this year. Not what your students have learned, but you. What’s worked well in your classroom? Which teaching approaches actually helped your students make progress? When were they most engaged, and when did things fall flat? These aren’t just questions for performance management; they’re the kind that help you grow as a teacher. If you can jot down a few honest answers now, they’ll still be there to guide you in September when the whirlwind starts again.

And it’s not just about pedagogy. Think more broadly. What did you learn about yourself this year? Maybe you handled a challenging parent meeting better than expected. Perhaps you supported a colleague in a way that brought out a new leadership skill. Or maybe you realised you’re ready for something more. That gut feeling matters, and this is the time to explore it.

If you’re thinking about going for a new role soon, this half term can be used to quietly lay the groundwork. Look at the kinds of jobs that interest you. What are they really asking for? Not just the standard phrases like ‘excellent communication skills’, but the stuff that speaks to impact. What have you done this year that shows you’ve made a difference? Do you have evidence of that? And more importantly, is it something that makes you stand out?

A lot of candidates can talk about what they’ve been involved in. Fewer can clearly show the outcomes. That’s where this reflection becomes valuable. If you’ve led a project, tried a new intervention or improved something in your subject area, now’s the time to document it. Keep it simple. What was the aim? What did you do? What changed as a result? This kind of clarity helps you speak with confidence in interviews and applications.

And if promotion isn’t on your radar right now, that’s fine too. But personal development doesn’t have to wait for a job advert. Maybe you’ve been thinking about contributing to your school community in new ways. Could you run a short CPD session on something you’ve developed? Offer to mentor an ECT next year? Write a short piece about a teaching approach that worked particularly well? You don’t need to be on SLT to lead. Sometimes, just starting a conversation or sharing a good idea is enough to create ripples.

You might even want to look beyond your school walls. There are plenty of teachers who have started to shape the wider conversation in education by writing blogs, articles or even books. If you’ve ever thought about sharing your expertise in a more public way, now’s a great time to explore it. You don’t need to have all the answers or a perfect portfolio. You just need an idea and a willingness to get started.

Of course, not everything has to be about work. Use this time to look after yourself too. What’s recharged you this year? What’s drained you? Think about the habits and rhythms that have helped you thrive and those that haven’t. Sometimes the most valuable professional development we can do is getting better at protecting our own time and energy.

All of this reflection might sound like extra work, but it’s not. It’s the kind of work that makes the boat go faster. The kind that sets you up to start next year with a clearer sense of direction and a bit more confidence in where you’re heading. It’s the difference between arriving at September feeling like you’re picking up from chaos, and starting the term already one step ahead.

So yes, get the classroom sorted if it helps you feel more organised. But don’t let that become the only thing you spend your time on. Make space to think. Make space to grow. You’ve done the hard part. Now’s the time to lift your head up and ask: what’s next?

You can read more articles by Andy McHugh here.