How do you create an engaging Reception classroom to support child-initiated learning? Anna Ephgrave has the answers…
As with the outdoors, an indoor Reception classroom should allow for learning in all areas of development. However, the two areas should not mirror each other.
The indoors has many advantages that you can exploit: it’s dry, with a controllable temperature and no wind. This makes it the ideal place for children to be calm and quiet.
We enforce this requirement firmly and consistently at Carterhatch Infant School. Children pursue activities that require small equipment and using resources that will not survive the elements.
In both our nursery and Reception classrooms, children choose where to go and what to do from the moment they arrive. They initiate their own learning and adults join them and support them in their pursuits.
I visit many Reception classrooms where practitioners say that the children can choose what to do, but I find the choice is limited by what the practitioners have already selected and put on the tables.
To support genuine choice we have a ‘workshop’ set-up in our Reception classroom. This means that in all areas, resources are available and accessible to the children at all times, but we don’t set anything out.
Areas are clear, stocked and tidy at the start of the day; the tables and carpet areas are free of equipment but the resources are available next to them.
For example, we have a unit containing a box of playdough and related resources. We place it near a table and children can choose whether or not to go to this area and what to do if they do go there.
Obviously children’s choices are limited by the areas and resources available. Therefore, it’s crucial to have appropriate areas with varied, high-quality, open-ended resources.
It’s also vital that you keep areas well stocked, tidy and clearly labelled (with picture and word). Arrange them to allow optimum access.
We constantly reflect on our Reception classroom to identify which may need altering. For example, although we have opportunities for mixing sand and water outside, we want the indoor sand to be dry to offer different opportunities.
Therefore it’s necessary to keep the water tray and equipment away from the sand tray. We also try to avoid making new play dough every day. This means we need to keep it away from the water and sand.
‘Shadowing’ resources helps children to be independent when tidying up. Cut the ‘shadows’ from coloured card or paper and glue to the shelf. Once you’ve covered the shelf in sticky back plastic, the shadowing will remain in place for several years.
Open shelving is ideal for displaying and storing resources in a Reception classroom. Children can see the resources easily and select what they want to use – a great improvement on trays or drawers.
Less is definitely more with indoor equipment. Fewer, carefully selected resources will be well used and easier to tidy up. You can use the majority all year – the children will use them differently every day.
We constantly assess and review our resources (as well as the different areas of our Reception classroom), making changes as necessary.
For example, we noticed that a very large wooden house was rarely, if ever, used. We therefore removed it from our Reception classroom.
I have seen many Reception classrooms where the carpet area is only in use for group times and there is another (often tiny) area for construction and small world play in another area of the class.
It’s more logical to place the construction toys and small world equipment around and facing onto the carpet. That way, when it’s not group time, children can still use the carpet area productively.
Another example of change was in one of our Reception classrooms. We noticed that the creative table was always overcrowded. We extended the area, making the table larger so that more children could access it at once.
A few years ago we also decided to combine the creative area and the ‘writing’ area. Young children combine their different types of mark-making – they make a card and write a message; they draw a picture and write a story; they create a robot and add labelled controls.
In many cases, they need creative equipment and writing implements – we therefore store them all in one area.
We have also elected not to have a maths area in our Reception classroom. Again, young children do not usually say, “I’m going to do maths.” Instead, they’ll opt to:
They will be experiencing maths in almost all areas of the Reception classroom, so we ensure that there is equipment (including Numicon) in all areas to facilitate this.
Remember to review your provision in terms of levels of involvement. If an area or a resource is not engaging children in purposeful play, then remove it or change it.
For example, threading beads might engage a few children in nursery, but cutting fabric and sewing it to make a real bag will be far more engaging and lead to higher levels of learning.
Areas that deliver the highest levels of involvement are the role-play areas, creative area (including sewing), small blocks, sand, water, play dough and small world equipment (including cars and dinosaurs).
With regard to role play, we ensure that there is always a ‘home corner’ in our Reception classroom (either indoors or outside) as this is what is familiar to the children.
This is where they can practise being the adults that they know (and in doing so, develop the vital life skill of empathy). We set up other role play as and when an interest emerges.
Most Reception classrooms have lovely book areas. We ensure that ours are as inviting as possible. We have a sofa, cushions, puppets and props to make the experience engaging.
We also have books in numerous areas of the indoor classroom – craft books in the creative area, cookery books in the role-play area, construction and reference books in the small-world area.
Finally, while the physical environment needs to be well laid out and equipped with high-quality, open-ended, varied resources, adults are key in creating the emotional environment that supports children.
They are the ones that ensure children feel confident and independent, ready to try new things in the knowledge that help is available if necessary, without taking over.
As Sugata Mitra says, “Children will learn to do what children want to learn to do,” so let’s support them by creating a superb enabling environment, including superb enabling adults.
Anna Ephgrave was formerly assistant headteacher for early years at Carterhatch Infant School. She is author of The Reception Year in Action and also works as an independent consultant with her colleague Ruth Moore at Freedom To Learn Network Ltd. Read about play-based learning in KS1.
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