Most teachers spend months agonizing over lesson plans, meticulously mapping curriculum, and sourcing resources.

Yet, according to this electrifying episode of "In My Kitchen with Yvonne," the real make-or-break moment is one that’s overlooked and often rushed: the very first week of school.

This time is more than a mere warm-up, and how you use it can transform your classroom culture, learner motivation, and outcomes for the entire year.

As Marcelo puts it so simply, “Most classrooms don’t struggle because of behaviour. They struggle because of what happens in the first week” 02:10. Often, the first interactions define how safe, heard, and empowered students feel. If the week is all about rules, admin, and a rushed intro to "content," students quickly learn that being right matters more than being curious.

But what if, instead, we slow down and use this week for something far more powerful, building community, setting values, modelling intellectual curiosity, and showing kids that not knowing is all part of the adventure?

Marcelo, a research scientist-turned-primary teacher, head teacher, and current Assistant Professor at the University of Sussex, has built a career around a simple but powerful idea: The “Joy of Not Knowing.” The goal isn’t to shame students for mistakes or for not having the right answer, but rather to make curiosity and intellectual risk-taking central to classroom culture 05:44.

Drawing on the “learning pit” model popularized by James Nottingham, Yvonne, highlights how real learning only begins with embracing what we don’t know and sitting with that uncertainty 14:24. Students should have the space emotionally and structurally to climb out of the pit encouraged, resilient, and ready to ask new questions sparked by new understanding.

So, how does this look in practice?

The “Learning to Learn Week” isn’t about jumping straight into curriculum content. It’s about intentionally co-creating classroom norms with students: establishing values democratically, designing the physical space together, and explicitly teaching “how” to think, not just “what” to think 19:06, 20:41.

Classes are invited to sit in a “horseshoe” shape, ensuring everyone can see and hear each other, fostering equality and participation.

Together, students vote on the classroom’s core values and use these, not a list of arbitrary rules, to guide daily interactions 45:03.

The week’s activities include encouraging philosophical thinking

(“Do two-dimensional shapes exist?”), creative modeling of the learning process

By the end, as Marcelo beautifully describes, “they feel able to thrive socially, academically, cognitively, linguistically, culturally,” regardless of achievement gaps or challenges 22:01.

The first week should be a foundation, not a checklist. It should be a time when students see themselves as valued, capable, and eager to learn.

Ultimately, as this episode reminds us, the greatest shift comes not from changing students, but from redesigning the very beginning.

Ready to try it? This year, slow down in week one. Ask a big question. Co-create a value. Make not knowing a superpower. And watch your classroom transform.

Rewind, reflect, and rediscover why your school exists and how, through clarity of vision and unwavering moral purpose, we can genuinely change lives.

Want to listen further or share ideas with your own school leadership team?

For more ideas, check out the full episode "The First Week Teachers Get Wrong Every Single Year" on "In My Kitchen with Yvonne," or explore Marcelo’s work at jonklearning.co.uk.

Click here to watch the full episode

Yvonne

LocaeRise: Change, handled well.

Next Step for School Leaders:
Explore how other schools are structuring their first week without overloading their teams.
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Next week: We welcome Dr Adam McCartney AFBPsS for a a discussion on the signs schools and parents Miss on ADHD. Don’t miss it!