Your working area should also be well-equipped. Schools vary a great deal in terms of what office stationery is provided to staff and you may need to spend some money to ensure you have exactly what you need. This, of course, is a classic example of something that you only want to do once a year – not every week. You should ensure that your shopping list considers all the following items; if you think you may need them during the course of your teaching year, get them at the start of the year:
pens, at least twenty: ten black, five red, five blue (get them in bulk at a wholesaler)
pencils, HB, at least a box of twelve, ideally with erasers attached
a box of white board pens – your own personal hoard; and a couple of board rubbers.
at least two cheap plastic rulers and a couple of erasers
two sets of whatever equipment you need for your specialist subject (for example coloured pencils for Art or set-squares for Mathematics)
at least two cheap staplers – your own personal staplers - compatible with the school’s supply of staples
a single-hole punch
a pack of cardboard folders, different colours: one folder for each class you teach, plus three more.
four or five box-files
four or five pages of sticky labels, and a couple of pads of post-it notes.
a box of pins for notice boards, or drawing pins
two rolls of Sellotape or adhesive tape of similar quality. Make sure that you can snap it with your fingers – scissors take too long. Alternatively, buy (once in your life) a tape dispenser
a couple of pairs of desk scissors.
(only if you can defend it) a labeller
at least two paper sharks
You may have notice the word 'two' appearing quite a bit in this list.TM4T recommends. You should keep a reserve pack of stationery in your locker or some other secure place at school. This means that you should never run out of anything. If you dip into your reserves of course (for example if someone borrows your stapler and doesn’t return it) you need to do a bit of shopping the next weekend to replenish your reserves.