Classroom Design
Tolworth Girls’ School: turning the tables on classroom seating I
n the second part of our feature looking at the importance of good
classroom design, Damian Mitchelmore, senior assistant headteacher at Tolworth Girls’ School explains how it turned the tables on classroom seating planning. As a rule, organising where students
sit in the classroom has always been tackled the old fashioned way; pen in hand, teachers scrawl their layouts on paper at the start of the new term. Those plans generally remain unchanged until the next refresh, and often the students have the same seat for the entire year. Organising who sits where in the classroom has remained unmodernised, and somewhat left by the wayside, while other areas within our sector have experienced an influx of innovations to help improve existing processes or indeed introduce new ways of teaching and learning. At Tolworth Girls’ School we search for tools that help us provide better
Damian Mitchelmore
outcomes for our teachers and students. We are a high-performing school and try to keep pace of all the new developments; this is reflected in our adoption of some really cutting edge innovations. Recently we recognised that producing handwritten seating plans, or even plans in Excel, did not align with our modern, well-equipped school.
Updating classroom seating plans A major shift in the way our teachers organised their classroom seating was needed, particularly when we looked closer into the issues of our ‘traditional’ approach. As a large school, the number of students in each class is high; compiling seating plans was therefore a labour-intensive task which demanded teachers’ precious time, and for that reason it was generally only undertaken when absolutely necessary. Taking this approach also meant there was little scope to update
information, for instance if new layouts were needed or if a student moved seat. Sharing plans with colleagues, or supply teachers, was also infeasible; in
the case of staff absence, there was no provision to access existing plans as these were held by individual teachers.
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A fresh perspective As a relatively new technology to enter the education market, an online seating planner has enabled us to bring a fresh perspective to classroom management, and teachers have completely changed the way they organise seating. For our school, MINTclass is a game changer, it has solved the problems we experienced and has enabled us to bring classroom seating planning in line with other processes in the school. What began as a trial across three subjects has now progressed to full
rollout across the entire school. Unique in the education space, this online solution has filled a gap for our school; and is a ‘must-have’ for our teachers, so much so that it is now part of their daily routine. Quick and easy-to-use, our teachers create plans again and again in a matter of minutes, which has encouraged regular experimentation with new classroom layouts.
Key to success The key to success has been the way in which our teachers have used the resource; they are using it to support teaching. With student profile pictures displayed along with other key data, such as SEND information, student grades and so on, teachers have everything directly in front of them in one place. The ability to access and print information as and when required has also helped us meet Ofsted requirements. Today if a teacher is absent, their classroom plan is accessible to everyone
via the online solution; previously this could not have been achieved. Now the sharing of information across the school is seamless, which aids the praise of student progress and achievement. This of course helps build relationships with students as we are able to get to know everyone much quicker than before, and can even improve behaviour.
Improving teaching and learning Essentially, moving forward classroom management solutions will play a larger role in education settings. As well as helping us to improve teaching and learning, we have been able to save teachers time. The traditional classroom as many of us remember has of course advanced beyond recognition, and with that every element is open to new changes. The process of creating seating plans has been around for quite some time, and yet the traditional model doesn’t sit well in today’s classroom; as one of the first schools to transition to online classroom seating planning, it is certainly help towards maintaining our leading edge status.
uwww.tolworthgirlsschool.co.uk May 2015
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