Leavers book for Year 11 or Year 13: pages, entries, deadlines
Plan a leavers book from the school's year group list. Give every student a page or an equal entry, collect them before study leave, and leave blank pages at the back for signing.
A Year 11 or Year 13 leavers book is usually made by a small student committee with one member of staff. The staff member matters: they hold the year group list, the photo permissions and the printer.
Work backwards from the day the books are handed out, often the leavers' assembly or prom. Exams and study leave take most of the year group out of school for weeks before that.
Make the memory book together
Invite people to send photos and their own words, then choose what goes in the book.
Questions for each student's entry
- Which trip, show or match from Year 7 onwards would you go back to?
- What did you think this school would be like on your first day?
- Which teacher said something you still repeat?
- Where in school was yours: a bench, a corridor, a classroom?
- What is the best thing you learned outside a lesson?
- Who sat next to you in your first form room?
- What will next year's leavers not believe about your year?
- Where will you be in September, if you want to say?
Start from the full year group list
The worst outcome is a student with no page and no mention. Ask the head of year for the list by form group and use it as the register for every stage.
Tick each student off when their entry arrives, when their photo is approved and when they have seen their proof. Chase the gaps through form tutors, not the group chat.
Pages most leavers books carry
Decide the page count before collecting anything, then share it with the printer for a quote per copy. A fixed page budget stops a popular form taking over the book.
- A page or half page for each form group, with the form photo and tutor's name
- One equal-sized entry per student: a photo and answers in their own words
- Trips, shows, sports fixtures and charity days, in order from Year 7
- A staff page with photos and short entries from teachers who agree
- Blank signing pages at the back, one for every twenty students or so
Collecting entries from a whole year group
Use one form with a fixed character limit for each answer, so every entry fits the same box. Free text from two hundred students will not fit any layout.
Set the deadline before study leave begins. After that, students are hard to reach and the committee is revising too.
Two people read every entry, one of them staff. Cut in-jokes that single someone out, private nicknames and anything about another student they have not agreed to.
Photos and permission
If the school produces the book, treat it as official school use. The ICO says pupils or parents must be told how photos will be used and recommends an opt-out.
Ask each student to choose or approve their own photo. Check group shots for anyone who has opted out, and swap the picture rather than blurring a face.
Proofs, orders and the printing deadline
Ask the printer for their lead time, then add two weeks for a late proof. Take orders and payment before the final print run, so the copy count is real.
Let each student see their own entry before printing. Check name spelling above all: a misspelt name in a printed book cannot be fixed.
Pages to make
Form group spreads
One form photo across the top, the tutor's name and form code beside it, and the students' entries in equal boxes below in register order.
Five years in order
A Year 7 induction photo, a trip ticket or coach list, a show programme and a sports team sheet, each with its year and term.
The staff spread
Staff photos from the school's approved set, with each teacher's subject and a short entry they wrote and checked themselves.
Signing pages
Plain pale pages at the back with ruled boxes, printed on uncoated paper so pens do not smear on the last day.
Questions
Do UK schools have yearbooks?
Many UK secondary schools and sixth forms make one, and some call it a yearbook. It is usually organised by a few students with one teacher holding the list and the budget.
When should a leavers book go to print?
Ask the printer for their lead time and count back from the hand-out day. Collect entries before study leave, since students are hard to reach after it.
Can a leavers book include students who left early?
Yes, if they agree. Contact them through the school, give them the same size entry and use a photo they approve.