What the Grade 1 record of work is
The Grade 1 record of work is the written account of what was actually taught to a Grade 1 class, entered week by week as the term goes along. It is filled in after the teaching, not before — which is what separates it from the scheme of work and the lesson plan, both of which are written in advance.
Grade 1 is where formal schooling begins, and the record of work has to reflect a year that is still largely practical. Learners count real objects, form letters, and work through activities rather than exercises, so entries describe what was done as much as what was covered.
Why Grade 1 teachers are required to keep one
The Teachers Service Commission lists records of work among the professional documents every teacher must prepare, keep updated and be able to produce, with the expectation that they are checked weekly. At appraisal, the record is the natural evidence for curriculum coverage, because coverage is a claim about the past: a scheme of work states what was planned, and only the record shows what was delivered.
That is also why a record built up honestly through the term is worth more than one reconstructed at the end of it. Where a Grade 1 class fell behind, the record turns that into a documented starting point for compensation lessons rather than a gap nobody can account for.
How Grade 1 records are organised
Records are kept per learning area across the eight Lower Primary areas — Indigenous Language, Kiswahili or KSL, English Language Activities, Mathematical Activities, Environmental Activities, Creative Activities, Religious Education, and the pastoral programme — within a 31-lesson week.
Each record covers one learning area for one term, so a full set for a Grade 1 class is several documents rather than one. One Grade 1 habit worth keeping: record the pace honestly in the early weeks. Foundational sub-strands routinely take longer than the design suggests at this level, and a record that shows an extra week spent on number recognition is documenting good teaching, not slow teaching.
What is in the file
Each Grade 1 record of work is a table, one row per lesson, grouped by week, under a short header block identifying the class. The format follows what teachers and supervisors expect:
- Header block: school, learning area, name of the teacher, grade, and term — the part you complete for your own school.
- Week: the week number in the term, so coverage reads against the school calendar at a glance.
- Strand: the CBC strand the lesson belongs to, tying each entry back to the KICD curriculum design.
- Work covered: the sub-strand and the specific learning outcomes actually addressed — the substance of the entry.
- Reflection: your own note on how the lesson went and what needs revisiting. Most often left blank; most often read.
- Sign: where the entry is signed off by the teacher and, at the checking point, by the head of department or head of institution.
Non-teaching weeks are recorded too — mid-term break, revision, end-of-term assessment. A record that accounts for all thirteen weeks is a complete account of the term, not one with holes in it.
Filling it in
The Grade 1 records in our catalogue come editable, with the strand and work-covered columns pre-filled from the KICD curriculum design and sequenced to match the corresponding scheme of work. That removes the transcription, which is the part that makes records fall behind in the first place.
What you add is what is genuinely yours: your school, teacher and class details; your week numbers against your own calendar; your reflections; and your signature. Enter each week as it closes rather than in a rush before an inspection, and where a lesson did not go to plan, say so in the reflection column — that is exactly what it is there for.
Who these are for
- Grade 1 teachers — an editable record in the expected format, pre-sequenced against the KICD curriculum design, so you are adapting rather than ruling a table from scratch.
- Trainee teachers on teaching practice — the record of work is the document most often misunderstood, because it is the only retrospective one. Schemes and lesson plans are written before; this is written after.
- Heads of department, school administrators and curriculum support officers — this is the coverage evidence you check, and the weekly expectation is what makes it worth checking.
- Anyone downloading on a teacher's behalf — confirm the learning area and the term as well as the class, since records are published per term and a Term 2 file is not a Term 3 file.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a Grade 1 scheme of work and a Grade 1 record of work? The scheme is written before the term and plans what will be taught, week by week. The record is written as the term runs and reports what actually was taught. Supervisors read them together, because the gap between them shows whether the class is on schedule.
Is a record of work compulsory? Yes. TSC lists records of work among the professional documents every teacher must prepare, maintain and produce on request, checked weekly, and they are the main evidence of coverage at appraisal.
How often should I update the Grade 1 record? Weekly. Entering work as the week closes keeps it accurate; reconstructing a term from memory at the end produces something that reads like a guess.
Are these editable? Yes. Every Grade 1 record downloads in editable format so you can enter your school, teacher and class details and align the weeks to your own calendar.
Do the records follow a particular textbook or publisher? Some do. Alongside general curriculum-aligned records, our catalogue includes versions developed against a specific approved coursebook, so the record can follow the same sequence as the book your school uses. Where that applies, the publisher or title appears in the file's name — open the link below and check the titles.
Looking for another Lower Primary class?
This hub covers Grade 1. For the other Lower Primary classes, use Grade 2 · Grade 3, or the Records of Work hub for every class from PP1 to Form 4.
Download the Grade 1 records of work
The full set of Grade 1 records of work is in our catalogue in editable format, organised by learning area and term and sequenced against the KICD curriculum design. Use the link below to open the Grade 1 set.