Guest Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Hi Just a quick question to any 2 form entry schools out there regarding moving between Reception classroom We are a 2 form intake school with 2 Reception classes adjacent to each other - with shared toilets and outdoor area. We do not ( unfortunately ! ) have a shared central area for messy activities, which would be great. We currently have 2 classes set up with the same areas of provision - maths, writing area, creative area, easels, role-play, reading, construction, small world, water etc We are weighing up the idea of setting the 2 classrooms up differently to allow for bigger areas - for example 1 class with water, 1 with sand, 1 with creative table for cutting/sticking, 1 with creative for playdough, different roleplay areas etc. We would then allow children to move freely between the classes Does anyone else do this ? and how does it work ? Or do you think 2 separate classrooms are the best for the children with a shared outdoor for those areas you can not find inside. I look forward to your views Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 If you are both on board, I think that will be a very successful way of working and it is a very sensible idea to pool resources in that way. However, it will need the commitment of staff and you will need to think how you are both going to work within it and of your class routines etc. I tried to do this with 3 classes but the physical layout of the rooms was not conducive to the children freeflowing as it was felt they needed to be supervised! Also my staff team were not behind the idea as much as they needed to be to make it work. In our situation we had to revert to separate rooms but I did feel that this was a step backwards although it was a decision that had to be made. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorna Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 We have a free flow between two classes linked by joint wet/ art/ sand/ water area and outdoor classroom. We are in the inbetween stage. We have moved the resources so we have all the construction together, small world etc... but have retained two writing tables, 2 literacy displays etc.... We have been encouraged by our LEA advisor to move to swapping rooms for literacy, numeracy etc.... but as we are semi open plan this year we decided to teach the same thing at the same time.... less organisation and same noise levels... interested in becoming completely mobile but interested in what others do to. Its the noise levels I am worried about and logistics of moving around... I suppose it something you get used to. So my question is Is there anyone that moves classes for CLL and MD etc.... or do you still have your own classroom and do the same thing at the same time? How does it work for Phonics? Do you think you should have phonic displays in both rooms? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Hi Lorna, when I was working in curriculum based rooms as above, we kept our own classrooms as we felt the children needed a home base and this was where we did all our group/class teaching focuses. If you are truly integrated you could maybe have one teacher delivering the numeracy and the other one the literacy to the whole group over 2 sessions to keep the group size manageable? I have seen this done but it did make for a rather large group with very little interaction. I think if you were moving classrooms with your group you might find it difficult as i think we all have individual ways of delivery and set our rooms up accordingly? Also management of personal resources might be difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 We tried this last year and I'm afraid it didn't work for us so we went back to 2 classes.Unfortunately it was a very demanding intake (but you dont know that at the beginning of the year) We set up one class as numracy and one as literacy and after registration each class went to required room.One room had water/paint etc the other sand/dough.Each room had a book corner and the literacy room had extended role play and the numracy room the home corner.Afternoons were freeflow.We had behaviour problems and some staff rushed a round setting up 2 rooms and some staff did ****. I've not been in reception this year but staff say it would have worked better this year with the current intake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorna Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I spoke to my colleague today and we have decided to keep it how it is... do the same thing at the same time... It has worked well this year. We will still have lots of free flow play between the classes and outdoor areas. Thanks for the ideas. L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 Hi A few years ago I worked in a school with a 2 form entry. We had our own classes with displays etc. We had one construction, one role play etc between us etc. When we taught literacy, I would teach phonics for the whole session (the children were grouped (approx 10 in each group, 4 groups), and rotated between the pair of us, and the other teacher would teach some other literacy activity like reading) We swapped over phonics/literacy ev half term or whenever needed (we worked well together) It worked well because children were grouped according to their ability which meant we were able to meet their needs easily. We did the same for maths. We seperated in the afternoons but joined together for certain things. I enjoyed that way. The children initially got lost or were in the wrong room etc, but they soon got the hang of it. Good luck anyway!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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