The Semester BEFORE introducing TRJ:

• Run a parent evening to introduce TRJ to the incoming year group.

Both Angela and Andrew can be booked to run these parent meetings for you, this is the link to book this with us.  Alternatively, you can run these evenings yourself using a slide show which is available on the website resource page.  At this meeting you’re wanting to get the parents onboard with the program and to provide them with some assurance that they will be involved in the ROP process and that the school seeks their support at ceremonies etc.  It’s also a good idea at this meeting to provide them with dates and venues for the ceremonies throughout the year

• Send letter home to parents requesting their help to identify a mentor

Here is a sample letter requesting parents help their child(ren) identify a suitable mentor for them.  This is best set up the year before the program starts so that families have time to find someone.  The Following or mentorship aspect of TRJ is important as having an advocate for young people who is not the parent or teacher is a protective factor for them as they negotiate the teenage years.  The hope is that schools provide some expectations to the students about how often they are to meet with their mentor and if they are engaging in a project.  Some schools choose for this to be a project based relationship which is showcased at the end of the year, however it doesn’t have to be the case and simply spending time with your mentor is enough.

• Order student books

Open Book Howden will send you an email with a link to order your student books.

• Organise Calling and Departure offsite ceremony

We recommend that this ceremony is facilitated off site if possible.  Preferably a significant land mark such as a local hill/mountain or coast line, beach, river or water way.  The hope is to make this ceremony memorable in the minds of the students.  Things to consider when organising this ceremony are:

• Location and significance to the school community
• Music, will you use any music, singing or otherwise to create ambience during the ceremony
• Symbolism, the use of the land mark as a symbol for crossing the threshold into adulthood is significant but also the use of other symbols such as - blowing bubbles into the air to release childish behaviour, writing a childish behaviour on a rock and throwing it into the ocean, or on a leaf and letting it float down the river.  There are many examples of the ways schools have used symbolism and the Facebook Group is a good place to ask or to look through.
• Invitees, we recommend that the parents are invited to all or part of your ceremony so that they can share the start of the journey and give their blessing for the child to embark on the journey.  You may also want to consider inviting the mentors to attend so that they gain more understanding of the program and what their involvement might be.

• Introduce whole staff to TRJ at a staff meeting

It’s really important that the whole staff have an understanding of TRJ and why it is so important to young adolescents to be part of a contemporary rite of passage.  Giving them some information about ROP and even particular lessons within TRJ will gain their support.  They are part of the wider community for your RJ students and we really want them to be advocates for the year group and for the program.

• Establish timetabling of TRJ

The ideal is to have all TRJ classes for the year group on the same line of the timetable.  This way you can develop some flexibility in class sizes and teachers can team teach across classes.  It also makes it easier for excursions and for sessions when you want the whole year group together.

• Establish staffing for TRJ

If possible it works best when the staff who are teaching TRJ are teachers who have chosen to be part of the program.  Teaching TRJ requires teachers to be highly relational with a willingness to share aspects of their own stories with the students, demonstrating vulnerability.  Part of TRJ is also making transparent, those times when the adults and teachers in a students world does not get things right either and we are wanting the teachers to be willing to show the emotion that goes alongside failure, disappointment and other more challenging feelings.  When teachers are willing to show this to students, we believe it is the best way for them to start to understand how to build resilience, while at the same time providing a highly relatable adult in the students lives.

• Staff Training

All staff who teach TRJ must participate in the 2 day face to face Level 1 training. We recommend that at least one other teacher per class attend the training also so that there are relieving staff available as well as general advocates for the program within the school.  After teaching TRJ for 3 years staff can choose to participate in the Level 2 training.  We recommend that every year the school commits to sending staff to either training, a teach meet or the conference, so that relevant research and pedagogies are continually being bought back to the teaching practices of those teaching TRJ.

• Consider class distribution

If you have the opportunity to consider the size of TRJ classes, we think 15-18 students is the ideal number.  We realise that this is not realistic for a lot of schools and working with the usual number of students of a class in your school is perfectly acceptable.It might also be worth considering who you put into which class as class dynamics can have a big impact on how the conversational curriculum of TRJ develops.  We also recommend single sex classes where possible.

• Establish coordinator for TRJ if not already created

It’s important to have one person appointed as the school “TRJ Coordinator”.  This person will receive communication from TRJ and be the first to hear about professional development opportunities. This person would usually also organise the Homecoming and Departure ceremony and the Return and the Homecoming at the end of the year.

• Consider where TRJ fits into the curriculum

Two or three lessons a week for the year are required. The amount of time spent on the program varies from school to school (between 60 and 200 minutes a week) the average being 100 - 140 minutes per week. Typically the program is taught in Health/PE lessons, Pastoral Care time, Christian Living lessons (or the like) or as a stand-alone unit. Some schools create a 'compulsory elective' at year 9 to create the time.

Semester 1:

• Run Calling and Departure ceremony (preferably offsite) between weeks 2-7

This is generally run after a few weeks of the students participating in TRJ classes so that they have a chance to get to know their TRJ Teacher Guide and to understand the purpose of the program.

• Mentors contacted and engaged

Parents should have helped their child choose a mentor at the end of last year and now is the time for students to establish contact with them.

• Introduce students to Challenge Passport

Part of TRJ is for the students to undertake a number of challenges throughout the year.  The purpose of this is to create opportunities to experience failure and to discuss what this is like for the students.  Some schools establish a Challenge Passport as a way of keeping track of which challenges students have completed and for the awarding of badges at the end of the year.  You can see our Passports and Badges here.

Semester 2:

• Consider what you’ll do for the Return Ceremony

Plan the end of year Return and Homecoming ceremonies.

• Order boards for breaking if using them next term

Board breaking is a challenge that some schools incorporate into TRJ.  Students write something like “I say good bye to childhood and step into adulthood” on the board and then break it in half. You can see a video of this here. The best boards to use are here.