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Learning Environment
“We show our children trust and they learn they can be trusted. We treat them with respect and get respectful behaviour in return. We put them in a beautiful place; give them a small taste of what a decent, dignified future might feel like, and that makes all the difference. The beauty we have designed in our centre isn’t just window dressing; it is an essential part of our success. It nourishes the spirit, and until you reach that part of the spirit that isn’t touched by cynicism or despair, no change can begin.” Bill Strickland
“A clean and well-kept building guarantees nothing about the quality of work children will accomplish within it. But it matters. It’s a message. It’s a visual model of the ethic within the building. The building doesn’t have to be a palace but it has to show the children, the teachers, and the parents that somebody cares about them. I don’t think this is possible without local pride. When a community is proud of its schools, the children who live there become part of this ethic.” Ron Berger
“It is almost impossible to say that there is a mathematical relationship between the beauty of his surroundings and the activity of the child; he will make discoveries rather more voluntarily in a gracious setting than in an ugly one.” Dr Maria Montessori
During lockdown and into the summer holidays many changes were afoot here at Aylesford Primary School. Amongst the most visible of these has been the transformation of the Learning Environment. As a school we decided to embrace the time that lockdown gifted us; classrooms were cleared and decluttered and corridor displays were created ready to celebrate pupil learning outcomes from our new and exciting curriculum. Magical and inviting book corners appeared in every classroom to help inspire and support a love of books and reading. Sadly, we are unable to welcome visitors into school for the foreseeable future. However, we wanted to share with you some of the exciting changes that have taken place.
We want our Learning Environment to be aspirational for our pupils; our displays model the excellence that we expect in published writing and artwork so that the children can really take pride when their own learning is published. Our corridors showcase the artwork of talented students at Invicta Grammar school, demonstrating to our younger pupils what they might achieve as their learning journey progresses towards secondary school.
Within classrooms, working walls for key subjects focus on current learning reinforcing, with visual reminders, key aspects and vocabulary and demonstrating clearly to the children what their learning outcomes should look like. This approach models the ‘Teaching Backwards’ technique, promoted by Andy Griffith and Mark Burns, who recently ran a one-day workshop for VIAT primary school staff.
You can see some of our fantastic displays below - just click on the titles for our galleries!
Our corridors
Book Corners
Learning Walls
Classrooms
Aspirational Art
