Limbrick Wood Learning Environment

Limbrick Wood is an emotionally literate school. We have a philosophy of inclusion that is reflected in every aspect of our school life and we work hard to ensure that everyone feels valued and important. We are all learners, children and adults alike and our school is a community that values everything to do with the learning process.

 Research shows that the learning environment has a powerful influence on children’s achievements.  All children should feel safe, settled, valued and have a sense of belonging to their school and their class.  In order to achieve this we should examine the following questions;

• Does your classroom offer a safe environment, is it safe to take risks and ‘have a go’ at answering questions and talking in the classroom without fear of ridicule?

• Is your classroom conducive to a settled environment whereby rules and routines are firmly embedded, allowing the children to develop as confident learners?

• Do all the children feel valued and respected as individuals?

• Do your children have a sense of belonging within the class; do they all recognise themselves as a member of the class with the same rights and responsibilities as everyone else?

The physical environment has a significant influence on developing and supporting independent learners.  It not only gives children very clear messages about how we value them, but how we value learning.  The Early Years environment is the foundations of developing independent learners, and it is this good practice that should be built upon as the children move through the school.  

Several areas contribute to creating a classroom environment which supports learning;

Displays

Effective classroom displays create an inviting, pleasant and stimulate learning environment and reflect a range of teaching and learning activities.  Displays are planned with the children, involving them in the decision making process, whereby they have significant ownership of their own environment.

There are three types of display; informative displays, interactive displays and role play displays.

Displays are purposeful, attractively arranged, labelled effectively, and are relevant to the current teaching and learning.  They reflect the learning process in different curriculum areas, not just finished work.  Curriculum displays include key words and statements, open-ended questions, prompts and scaffolds to highlight key learning points.  

Classroom Organisation

It is very important that the classroom should be clean, tidy and well ordered. This physical environment will directly impact upon the children’s perceptions of themselves and their own work. After creative lessons, such as art and DT, the children are responsible for tidying their  classroom, ensuring it is restored to a clean and well-ordered place. These are life skills that children will have learned in Nursery and should be reinforced throughout their time in school.

Classroom Layout

The physical layout of the classroom supports inclusive, interactive teaching.

Seating and tables give children as much work space as possible, and allows for flexibility to support working in different contexts, such as individual work, paired work, small group work and whole class teaching.  This layout allows for both independence and co-operation between the children, whilst also reflecting the speaking and listening ethos which permeates the curriculum.

There are many hidden messages in the way children are grouped and seated. An inclusive classroom will celebrate joint endeavour promote cooperative, interactive learning.

Classroom Resources

Resources are readily available to support collaborative learning.  They are well organised, classified, clearly labelled and accessible for both adult and child.  Resources are diverse, so that children can learn through visual, aural and kinaesthetic experiences. There are also appropriate models and artefacts displayed to support the children’s learning in relation to particular topic or curriculum area.  
There is a wide range of reading material attractively displayed, well organised and accessible to the children. These materials are differentiated according to the needs of the individual children.

The nature of all the many relationships within the learning community;  will directly impact upon the learning that is taking place.  How adults use language (both written and spoken) can have a powerful effect on creating a supportive learning environment.  Small comments can destroy learners’ self-esteem or boost it.  Respectful language between adults and learners signals respectful relationships.  We aim to model such relationships both inside and outside the classroom, and furthermore we use positive and no-blame language in response to children who are experiencing difficulties with some aspect of learning.

Familiar and established routines and procedures are conducive to a settled learning environment.  They can support social interactions and establish a sense of security for children.  Rules and routines are established by actively teaching them to learners, and should be continually revisited and reinforced. 

Whole school discipline is the remit of the whole community and not restricted to teachers and teaching assistants.  If we accept that behaviour is a form of communication, then we must manage behaviour in a way that shows that we understand children’s needs and that we will positively respond to challenges. Our calm and thoughtful responses, model to children the correct way to promote an effective learning environment.

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