N is for Neutral - My Journey

Part 2

The neutral classroom is one many of us are striving for. It’s beneficial for the children but also, for us. We can spend up to 10 hours a day at school (although I definitely do not encourage this within my team), so we need to be in a classroom which makes us feel calm and happy too, right? However, it’s a journey which requires ongoing reflection.

I started at my current school two years ago, and arrived in my new class to find three rows of open shelves high up on the wall along one whole side of the classroom. On these shelves were clear plastic boxes full of resources. I had a lot of furniture; one being one of those huge paper drawers right in the middle of the room. The walls were backed in all the colours of the rainbow with clashing borders. As an adult, I was in sensory overload and didn’t know where to start.

In order to improve the flow of the classroom the first thing I knew I had to tackle was the furniture. I removed the huge paper drawers and a couple of other units that I knew I didn’t need. I planned out where I wanted certain areas and moved the furniture accordingly. This became the start of a process which changed and developed over the next two years but it was a start, and made a huge difference.

The next thing to be sorted, which took a while, was the clutter. The boxes, drawers and baskets full of resources. They were everywhere! On shelves, under the pegs, under tables, under my teacher desk, on the windowsills, under the sand and water trays; literally everywhere! Although they were all in boxes, the children could not independently access anything and the classroom felt too busy. Anything I didn’t use on a daily or weekly basis went to central store. Dinosaurs, vet’s role play, playdough ingredients, cars, the doll’s house, lego, duplo, the wooden train track etc etc. The classroom was clear and clutter free. It felt bigger, freer, more spacious, and calmer.

Once all that was sorted, I then started to transition to neutral and natural. I did this slowly. For example, when I changed a display, I would change the backing to Kraft. I changed two of my royal blue room dividers (you know those felt ones?) to a wooden slatted bedhead and I covered the bright red one in hessian. I brought in loose parts and other open-ended resources. I draped some warm white fairy lights over my arches. I took the wooden blocks out of the red plastic boxes, and put them back on the shelves organised by type. I sorted out every single cupboard in my house secretly looking for items I could use in my home corner; I also asked my Mum to do the same.

I am now, here. The start of my third year at this school. The journey is most certainly not over and I am excited to get back to school next week. However, I’ve started to notice something…