Giffards Primary School

Giffards Primary School Learning Environment and Display Policy Agreed by Governors April 2011 Next Review Date April 2014 1

Giffards primary School Learning Environment and Display Policy This policy was developed in the Spring term 2011 through a process of consultation It was approved by the Governing Body on It will be reviewed in Spring 2014 Rational of the Policy Displays are representative of the work covered through curriculum areas and should give a snapshot of the school to visitors which reflects the broad range of curricular subjects, including ICT, where appropriate and is representative of the objectives and skills learnt/taught. Children s work should be displayed in a way that celebrates their achievements as well as reinforces/revises themes covered and promotes a spirit of enquiry. Purpose of display:- To clarify the purpose and place of display in the learning environment To give children a sense of enjoyment and pride in their work and to celebrate and value the work of all pupils To promote questioning and learning through interactive/informative displays. To create a bright, stimulating, attractive learning environment. To develop the skills needed for presentation through their technology work. To give children opportunities to appreciate the work of other children within the school. To arouse curiosity and promote ideas for their own work from seeing what others have produced or from what has been on display. To display relevant artefacts that stimulate children s work. To reflect the cultural diversity of contemporary British society and the global dimension of the curriculum. 2

The learning Environment Working walls Displays In all classrooms The classroom learning environment for literacy, numeracy and Science is based on the working wall approach where teachers modelling and prompts are displayed as ongoing learning in each classroom. The classroom literacy/ numeracy / science wall evolves as each day progresses. It is the public display of the learning process. It clearly displays the long term learning objectives as well as short term intentions. The success criteria is developed with the children and is displayed. It is used to demonstrate to pupils how they will be able to achieve the learning intention. Key vocabulary is also displayed. Mind mapping, modelled examples, re-drafting and pupils examples are regular features of a working wall Elements to a working wall 1. Layered curricular targets (must /should /could) 2. Explanations / examples of layered targets 3. Success criteria 4. Promoting key vocabulary 5. Use of visual prompts and interactive resources 6. Key questions 7. Shared work 8. Children s work Each working wall needs to be accessible to the teacher and visible to the children as part of normal classroom teaching; ideally the Literacy and Numeracy working walls will be adjacent to the interactive whiteboard and class whiteboard. Washing lines are a useful way of extending the working wall. There must be an interactive element in working wall displays, where children have the chance to interact with the display in three ways during the main teaching input as part of the development of a genre or unit so children have clear examples and success criteria on which to base their work ( see appendix for examples of literacy and numeracy walls and working wall checklist as part of their lesson during the independent section use of the wall ensures these skills are transferred Informally to extend their learning beyond the lesson and ensure the transference of skills becomes truly cross curricular. Work on the working walls reflects the current National literacy Strategy phase or national Numeracy Strategy unit being studied and the National Curriculum for Science. Work is not necessarily mounted, as it is expected to develop rapidly and change frequently. Teachers and pupils may write captions, add vocabulary, interesting sentences or new phrases or connectives to develop a particular genre. However, handwriting should always be consistent with the school agreed style, be neat, legible, formed correctly and joined from year 2 up. Staff can support themselves by having pre-cut sheets of bright display paper ready to write on. These can then go directly onto the working wall. 3

Curriculum layered targets These can be incorporated into a working wall or be displayed separately. It is important the targets Are clear - big enough to be read from the other side of the room) Are easily understood - written in child speak Have examples so children know what they have to do to achieve them Are the next steps pupils need to make Are included as part of daily teaching they won t be achieved if they are not taught Other Items which need displaying in each classroom Include Classroom rules and codes of behaviour. Golden rules Supporting learning guidance sheet for teacher reference Fire exits and protocols The learning environment display as celebration Celebration of work is displayed in corridors, shared areas and the school entrances. It is not the focus of the classroom learning environment. Although if space allows it is expected displays of work central to the termly theme will be displayed in classrooms. The current year group theme should be evident in each room through books, artefacts and relevant teaching materials Each shared celebration display should have A title or heading Bold and clearly visible A learning objective Captions to explain the learning process or provide contextual information Questions to promote curiosity and encourage interaction. Work (written work, captions and questions as well as Paintings and photographs) should be mounted neatly possibly double mounted. Borders should be used to frame the display board please staple in place securely as these are easily ripped as children pass by. The use of artefacts, drapes or plants can be used to enhance a display. Using boxes and other devices to make a display 3D are recommended A rota for display is established and organised by the art coordinator. Displays are a celebration of pupils work and as such should change regularly in accordance with the rota. Work can however be re sited to other shared areas. Please think about careful presentation, such as thoughtful use of colour, shape, texture and the imaginative arrangement of work to achieve the best effect. Vertical and horizontal lines look better aligned if possible please stand back and check work is straight before stapling Displays should always belong to the children and not be window dressing. They provide one of the best ways of demonstrating a child is valued anda range of abilities should be evident. A good display will stimulate discussion - think of your target audience Finally please remember - Stand back and evaluate the display Has it worked? Are the children using it? Talking about it? Is it a useful tool for teaching? Does it celebrate work effectively? Has it made you feel proud? Has it made the children feel proud? 4

Responsibility Classroom display: teachers will make professional decisions in determining what material is displayed in and around their classroom The coordinator with responsibility for display is responsible for coordinating work around the school, to ensure displays are of a high standard, updated and replaced regularly following a rota. Classroom displays are the responsibility of the class teacher in line with workforce reform but they may be arranged and put up by the LSA in the time delegated for these tasks. All displays must be checked regularly to ensure they remain neat and any repair work should be undertaken as soon as possible. Budget This is the responsibility of the member of staff with responsibility for display to ensure there are sufficient resources necessary to allow staff to create high quality, stimulating displays Monitoring and evaluation The learning environment will be monitored as part of regular SLT environment walks (see appendix 2) The impact of working walls will be monitored as part of lesson visits and observations The display coordinator is responsible for monitoring of shared celebration displays. 5

Guidance Checklist for Working Walls Appendix 1 Generic Need to reflect current learning Include examples of children s work that meets success criteria for the work this should be annotated and levelled as an example of what is needed (suggested not levelled in Y1) Success Criteria An overview of the learning (e.g. in the form of learning objectives, statement from overview re: genre etc or prompts such as can you see why this is a level?. This is a level? because / WOW this is a level? because.) To be changed regularly is a work in progress Colourful, attractive and interactive again a discussion as to what this meant but the thought was that it meant that care needed to be taken that good quality materials (markers, paper) were used so that even work that was put up as part of the lesson was valued Targets must, should, could relating to an annotated piece of work of the current unit being studied Age appropriate work at level appropriate to year group, e.g. Y2 L2B Literacy Key features of a text type annotated on a model Word bank appropriate to genre Modelled and shared writing Sentence level work, e.g. display examples of compound, complex sentences Mathematics Annotated model of the appropriate method linked to progression in calculations policy of the school demonstrating the process Examples of how the learning can be used and applied. Mathematical vocabulary that is appropriate to the process Resources available for the children to use clearly labelled, with examples of use shown on the working wall Models and images relevant to the learning If shape and space it is important that shapes are displayed in different views OTHER Targets whole school, curricular layered targets may be on table tops 6

Appendix 2 Classroom environment: checklist for effective learning This is used by teachers to audit their own classroom environment or as a monitoring or observation tool by peers or the school s senior management team. Checklist for effective learning Focus area Desirable elements Evidence Sharing Objectives displayed and discussed objectives Key questions displayed and used in and lesson starts and plenary: What? Why? reviewing How? When? learning Key questions and prompts available to support children s talking and thinking about learning Use of key questions or grids to trigger prior knowledge Curriculum displays include statements and questions to highlight key learning points Working walls used to develop literacy phase/numeracy unit Curricular targets Vocabulary Success criteria explained and visible Key literacy and mathematics targets are displayed Classroom displays, visual prompts and resources support key curricular target focuses, e.g. structural organisers Key words and technical vocabulary displayed for a variety of curriculum areas Vocabulary referred to and used within teaching Positive affirmations Definitions of words discussed with children Collections of words or phrases to support key writing forms, e.g. sticky notes, cards, pocket charts Positive affirmations are displayed in the classroom and referred to regularly The teacher actively fosters positive attitudes and behaviours Successes are celebrated Are the resources, displays and prompts used as a teaching tool? How interactive are they? Have you also got displays that celebrate children s work? 7