The planning card
The traditional version is the pink and blue card: one per child, pink for girls and blue for boys, sorted into piles on a staffroom table until the piles look even. A typical printable template carries student details, an alert section, academic ratings, behaviour and a tally sheet for counting each pile. One educator's critique of the practice proposes a card built around strengths, interests, supportive friendships and separations instead of colour. The sources are listed below with the date they were read.
Whatever the layout, a useful planning card answers the questions the team will ask at the table:
- Name, and the class the child is in now.
- Reading and math level, in bands the whole team uses the same way (1 to 4 works).
- Behaviour support needed, English learner, and a plain support flag for a learning plan.
- Up to three friends, in order, and anyone to keep apart, with siblings or twins noted.
- One practical note, such as needing a seat near the front.
In the class builder these are the columns you paste, and the class lists printout with details shows them per class. The support flag is a count to spread across classes: it never records a reason, and it never prints on a card.
Example cards from the sample grade
The built sample grade prints 60 cards on 8 sheets, grouped by this year's class (3A, 3B, 3C) so each teacher can cut and hand out their own. These are the first four, as they print:
Next school year
Rafael Ahmed
Class 4B
Teacher: Mr Osei
This year: 3A
Next school year
Rosa Ali
Class 4A
Teacher: Ms Lindqvist
This year: 3A
Next school year
Luca Bauer
Class 4A
Teacher: Ms Lindqvist
This year: 3A
Next school year
Ivy Costa
Class 4C
Teacher: Ms Varga
This year: 3A
The school year line is yours to set when you print, for example "2027 to 2028". Notes, bands, flags and friends are left off by design, so a card can be handed out in a corridor without telling anyone anything private.
When to hand them out
Only after the lists are final and the principal has signed them off. Schools choose their own moment; one district in the sources posts lists no sooner than the Friday before school opens, so late enrolments can still be placed. Print a fresh set if anything changes after the first print: the cards always follow the current lists.
Common mistakes
- Writing on the card that goes home. A note about behaviour on a card is a note a classmate can read.
- Colour coding by gender on anything a child sees. Keep balance counts on the planning side.
- Using different scales. If one teacher's level 3 is another's level 2, the balance is fiction. Agree the bands first.
- Printing before sign off. A card handed out and then changed is the hardest conversation of the season.