It is that time of year again when, as a teacher, you are readying yourself for another exciting year of study. It can be an exceptionally busy time, which is why it is important you get as much planning done ahead of the first bell of the new term. Once that rings, it is very much go, go, go.

This guide will help you get organised, easing you back into the professional mindset after what is always a welcome break. It is time to get focused, so that you begin as you mean to go on – inspired, full of ideas and enthused about teaching.

Establish a thorough schedule

Make the most of the “free time’ you have before your pupils return/start school. Ideally, you should look to put together the most comprehensive schedule possible.

Use your school’s academic calendar as a framework and plan in lessons, events, days of interest and so forth. Anything that will complement your efforts in the classroom warrants being included. The more prepared you are, the easier life will be.

Re-familiarise yourself with your subject

Needless to say you are somewhat of an authority on your subject matter, but even the most enthusiastic teacher will cut down on research while on their summer holidays.

Start small. See what the Department for Education has published, for example, browse through your tweets and treat yourself to the latest books. Then, of course, as you get closer to the start of term, absolutely blitz the curriculum until you are confident you grasp the overall picture.

Create the right kind of environment

If you are lucky enough to have your own classroom, you should look to create an inviting, purposeful and productive environment to be in. It has to have a certain wow factor to it, the kind that pupils can thrive in.

Think about the mood you are trying to create, the equipment/resources you need on hand, the information you want youngsters to see everyday. So, for example, if you’re a history teacher, populate your classroom with artefacts, posters and even furniture that is relevant to what you will be teaching.

Energisers, icebreakers and group contracts

It is all about first impressions, especially if you’ve got an entire new set of students to teach. Begin then with a number of fun energisers and icebreakers, so that you and your pupils can get to know one another.

You should also turn your attention to what is expected of your pupils when it comes to behaviour. The most effective way of getting youngsters to “sign up” to a “group contract” is to give them ownership of it. Steering them in the right direction, so to speak, get them to come up with their own rules. Stick it up in a prominent place.

Establish 'working socials'

Once the new term starts, you’ll find that every hour of your day will be used up. Be it planning, marking assignments, contending with paperwork, observing presentations and taking charge of extracurricular responsibilities, teaching can be a solitary affair.

This can mean you hardly ever get to engage with colleagues, which is why it is important to establish regular socials. This should be twofold – one type should be free of work, while the other should be a “working social”, where, over beers and food, you discuss, share and learn from one another.

History remains one of the most popular subjects at A-level, with some figures suggesting that it continues to gain favour with youngsters beyond GCSE. While that is, of course, welcome, the subject at this level remains ironically confined in historical scope.

Despite many attempts to widen the curriculum, time after time, students, and indeed schools, are returning to modern subjects. So endemic is this trend that it has been bestowed the moniker Hitler and the Henrys. In short, Nazism and Tudor history reigns supreme.

Now, arguably, this is a consequence of context. These topics are more immediate and accessible than, for example, medieval history and thus theyare easier to broach (not necessarily easier to understand).

Additionally, when we attempt to understand the present, it is all too easy to frame current events against events that are, historically speaking, more recent. Take for example the rise of the Islamic State, the Ukraine Crisis and the latest conflict in the Middle East.

Answers to these problems present themselves immediately before, during and after the first world war and, while that may be true in some respects, others may just as powerfully argue otherwise.

As the American historian Roy P. Basler once remarked: 'To know the truth of history is to realise its ultimate myth and its inevitable ambiguity." Still, such truths warrant scepticism – the historian must investigate, deliberate and record.

While the limited nature of Hitler and the Henrys remains troublesome, they fact that we (students, schools, colleges, scholars, media outlets) return to them time after time says something of their hold over our 'historical imagination'.

It is also important to note there is a bureaucratic element to this – attainment levels of schools inform the choices they make across all subjects when it comes to the formation of a curriculum.

Here is a rundown of the top three OCR A-level history topics that were offered last year in order of popularity.

1. Russian Dictatorship (1855-1992)

Beginning with the ascension of Alexander II to Tsar, considered to be one of the greatest Russian reformers since Peter the Great, this topic takes us through one of the most radical periods in the history of any nation.

It concludes with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, an unfortunate legacy of the second world war that did very little to improve tensions between countries, despite the horrors of the conflict.

2. Civil Rights in the USA (1865-1992)

It tragically took a civil war for the United States to end slavery on the continent, yet, that was not the end of the struggle for equality. While the deliberate bondage of another based on race was outlawed, in its place came segregation – the Jim Crow laws – which ensured the subjugation of African Americans.

So it was that in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War, the fight to end racial discrimination evolved from the abolition of slavery into a fight for civil rights. It would be another long battle, but one that had to be carried out. Is it not so that "all men are created equal", as the Declaration of Independence's preamble stated?

3. Dictatorship & Democracy in Germany (1933-1963)

The rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism and its inherent malevolence is one of the most visible and known-about epochs in modern history, which reveals, all too tragically and graphically, how far into the nadir of barbarity humanity can fall.

We look back at this period and are lost for words. It is still difficult to properly explain Hitler's ascent to power, the second world war and the Holocaust, as the historian Ian Kershaw once noted: "Hitler was no inexorable product of a German ‘special path’, no logical culmination of long-term trends in specifically German culture and ideology. Nor was he a mere ‘accident’ in the course of German history."