"The new furniture layout had a massive impact on the children and their learning."
Andrew McGregor, Head Teacher, Salehurst CoE Primary School
The Salehurst Primary School’s reception classroom was shabby, a little garish, and often chaotic. So the teachers put their heads together with Community Playthings’ room layout team and came up with a 3D plan. They decided to remove all the old furniture as well as some bulky built-in counters and replace them with a new layout, creating interest areas out of Roomscapes.
The set-up crew arrived with the furniture one Saturday morning and the makeover began. Although the classroom was not very big, the difference was enormous.
On the Friday afternoon, the space looked like this:
On the Monday morning, it had been transformed:
"It's so amazing seeing our classroom transformed," said reception class teacher, Sian Rice.
"Getting the environment right is absolutely fundamental to the children's learning and wellbeing. If you get it right the children will be calm, they'll be engaged, they'll be focused and they'll gain so much out of their time there."
On Monday morning the children came back to class; hidden cameras in the room recorded their reaction to the new environment: “Ooh look! It’s really, really different!"
They right away settled down to play: the role play area was an instant hit, and block cities sprang up and sprawled over the carpet. Because the room now had low open shelves, the children could easily find materials and put them away when they were done.
When an advisor arrived the next week, she was delighted how the children were engaged in their activities.
You can watch the video here: http://bit.ly/2g7CbaU
To make a difference in your classroom: request a catalogue or discuss our free room layout service: Contact 0800 387 457, sales@communityplaythings.co.uk