Sharing Good Practice
SETTING UP YOUR EARLY YEARS
CLASSROOM
BY GINANNA ULYATT
In the sand and water areas, decide
in advance what you want students
to learn and provide appropriate
resources.
Encourage
on-going
scientific investigations with plants,
natural materials, different fruits
and vegetables. Provide magnifiers
for close observations and paper/
pencils for recording. Encourage
experimentation with magnets and
gravity.
Change the role-play area and small
world play regularly. Link these free
play areas to themes so students can
act out new ideas, use new words and
consolidate their understanding.
A
s one academic year ends,
we begin to think about our
classroom for September.
We may be in a completely
new area or we may wish to make
changes to the room we are already
working in. Be creative! Measure your
room or working spaces, measure fixed
furniture and mobile units. Then draw
everything to scale and cut out each
piece of furniture/units. Place items
on the scaled drawing of your working
area and move them about to find the
best locations to give you a clear bird’s
eye view of your setting. Provide plenty
of space between areas so students
can move around without encroaching
on the work of others. Fasten down
rugs to avoid accidents. Keep fire exits
and doors unobstructed. Consider the
location of windows to make best use
of natural light.
Provide an area for students’ personal
belongings and clearly label their
personal space. Create distinct areas,
so that messy or noisy activities do not
encroach on quiet and reflective areas.
Provide attractive boards that are
child eye-height, to support learning
and celebrate students’ outcomes.
Organise storage of resources,
making sure they are clearly labelled
and accessible. Students then know
where everything goes. Training them
to tidy away when their activities are
completed, will be straightforward.
Create an enticing and comfortable
reading area, with cushions or a
covering and display around six books,
so students become familiar with
them, and encourage them to browse.
Change books every week and show
students the new selection. In the mark
making/ writing area, provide a range
of writing tools and a variety of paper,
card etc. Ensure students have a clear
purpose for writing notes, messages,
their news or illustrations.
The mathematics area should have
challenges using resources in two
and three dimensions, as well as
opportunities for counting, ordering
and sorting objects. Display a clear
n umber line always starting with zero.
Encourage students to build, with an
idea in mind, in the construction area.
Set up a creative area with paper of
various colours and sizes. Provide
scissors, and glue, all stored safely,
but accessible. Provide paint,
brushes and sponges of different
sizes and encourage students to
mix new colours. Provide malleable
materials of different colours and
vary the texture with glitter, rice or
sand. Provide interesting images
to inspire students and value their
creativity. In the music area, two
instruments at a time are sufficient
for students to compare sound and
create simple sound effects.
Many of the above areas can be also
set up outside. Outdoors is ideal
for gross motor skill development,
for negotiating between objects,
for running or for using wheeled
apparatus.
Encourage
balancing
and climbing. Use bats, balls and
bean bags to develop eye-to-hand
coordination and bodily awareness.
Designate specific areas outdoors
for different activities, to encourage
vigorous activity for all, but ensuring
safety at all times.
Checklist
1. Use a scaled drawing to plan your
classroom
2. Make sure fire exits and doors
are unobstructed, and rugs are
fastened down
3. Separate noisy/messy
from quiet ones
activities
4. Provide interesting activities for all
areas of learning
5. Make full use of the shaded outdoor
area
References:
An extensive range of Academic Papers
Personal observations in over 400 Early
Years Settings in the UK and UAE
Gianna has extensive experience as a teacher, principal, and inspector. She is a
consultant with expertise in KG and has spoken at conferences in Hong Kong,
Spain and the U.K. She sometimes works in the UAE. To connect with her, email
[email protected]
Class Time
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May - Jun 2018
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