Unit 1: Setting the Tone Digitally

The first two weeks of term decide the next nine. This unit shows you how to design a class charter, three daily routines and a rules system — then reinforce them with simple digital tools your pupils will actually see every day.

⏱ 45 minutes 📊 Beginner 🎯 4 learning objectives

Learning objectives

Co-create a class charter pupils will actually keep.
Design three daily routines that remove daily friction.
Reinforce rules and routines with simple, low-cost digital tools.
Use the first two weeks of term as a deliberate culture-setting window.

Why the tone you set early matters

Behaviour research is unanimous: the classroom culture established in the first 10 school days predicts the rest of the term. Pupils watch what you tolerate more than what you say. A loud "Quiet!" on day 30 cannot fix permission you accidentally gave on day 3.

Digital tools don't replace your physical presence in the classroom — they amplify it. A poster on the wall reaches a pupil once a day. The same charter on the class WhatsApp group reaches them six times.

The class charter — 5 rules, written WITH them

Don't post a list of rules on the wall. Build one with your class. It takes 40 minutes once. They will defend the rules they wrote.

Brainstorm: "What kind of classroom do we want to be in this term?" — collect every answer on the board.
Cluster: Group similar answers (respect, learning, safety, kindness, effort).
Reduce to 5 rules: Each phrased positively. "We listen when others speak." Not "Don't shout."
Sign: Every pupil signs the final charter. So do you.
Distribute digitally: Photograph it. Send to parents on WhatsApp. Pin it as the class group description.

The three daily routines worth automating

Pick three small moments that drain time and turn each into a routine pupils can run themselves.

Moment	Routine	Digital reinforcement
Entry	Bags down, name on attendance, look at "Today" board	Google Slide projected with date + bell-ringer activity
Transitions	"3-2-1 hands up" countdown for moving between tasks	Free YouTube 60-second timer with music
Exit	Last 2 minutes: pack, chairs in, exit ticket	Google Form with 1 question — "What's one thing you learned today?"

The four tools you actually need

WhatsApp Business — for parents and class announcements. Free. Already on every phone.
Google Slides — one "Today" slide projected at the start of every period.
Google Forms — exit tickets, attendance, weekly polls.
Canva — printable charter, posters, certificates.

That's it. Resist the temptation to add a fifth tool. Mastery of four beats half-using ten.

The first-two-weeks plan

Treat the first 10 school days as Operation Set the Tone:

Day 1–2: Build the charter with pupils. Sign it. Photograph it.
Day 3: Send the charter to parents on WhatsApp with one sentence of context.
Day 4–6: Run each of the three routines three times. Praise pupils who get it right by name.
Day 7: Run your first weekly exit ticket Form. Share three pupil responses (anonymously) at Monday assembly.
Day 8–10: Re-anchor the charter every morning for 30 seconds. By day 10 they'll be reciting it without you.

🎬 Demo — One slide, every morning

Open Google Slides → create a single slide titled "Today is _____". Add four boxes: Date, Bell-ringer task, What we'll cover, Charter rule of the day. Project it from your phone or duplicate to every classroom screen. Two-minute setup. Three-second daily edit. Cuts your "settle down" time by 60%.

✍ Exercise 1.1 — Your culture pack

Before the next school day, produce:

A 5-rule class charter (written positively, signed by you).
A "Today" Google Slide template you'll reuse every morning.
One Google Form exit ticket with one question.

Deliverable: Save all three to a folder titled "Term 1 — culture pack". You'll refer to it in every later unit.

Unit summary

Tone set in the first 10 days predicts the rest of the term.
Build the charter with pupils. Sign it. Send it home.
Three routines automate the day: entry, transitions, exit.
Four tools are enough: WhatsApp, Slides, Forms, Canva.

Setting the Tone Digitally