Best Practice

'The feeling in the classroom is calm and purposeful'

Mental health Facilities Pupil wellbeing
More schools are signing up to transform their classrooms into therapeutic teaching spaces. Shahana Knight looks at the approaches she has helped implement at St Charles Primary School
The big reveal: The calmer therapeutic environment has led to a calmer and more purposeful classroom (image: supplied) -

St Charles Primary School is a one-form entry school in Salford with 216 children on role.

Headteacher Dr Clare Campbell reached out after meeting me at a conference and seeing an example of the therapeutic classroom we created last year at Shevington Vale Primary School in Wigan.

She told me: “It was … the most beautiful classroom that I had ever seen. I was so inspired.

“My doctorate is in art therapy, and I have always believed in a therapeutic approach to learning to support our most vulnerable learners. Since the pandemic, all our children have experienced trauma due to the lockdowns and parental stress, so the therapeutic classroom approach seemed really timely for us.”

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