For whole class, group or individual use. Discuss the children’s aspirations for the year / term etc and allow them to annotate with post it notes, felt tips etc. Use as a tool to reflect upon their progress and as a working document to sustain a cycle of improvement led by the child / children. It nurtures a positive, confident, trustworthy culture where everyone has a voice that is valued. It suppprts AfL and encourages reflection / accountability, a really positive tool to develop teacher / adult pupil interactions and positive relationships.

A Vision Board to support PSHE / SEMH in the classroom where children actively set their own criteria for making sure that the classroom is a happy place to learn. It can link to your school values and is a great opportunity for valuing pupil voices. It becomes a tool for reflection, sets the standard for trust and openness, ensuring that children know they are valued. It also becomes a tool for restorative chats when the suggestions are not adhered to, rather than a list of class rules. It is versatile in that it can be used to motivate staff, bringing about a culture of support. Interactive, working document, children can write their suggestions on colourful post it notes. A great way to reward exemplify good practice in the classroom, praising children when they demonstrate acts to make others happy.

Teaching is tough and we all have days when it becomes overwhelming. A mindfulness statement won’t answer your prayers, but might help you focus on the positives, just as we encourage our children to do.

The Science Lesson is a story about a class of children planting seeds of peculiar shapes, not really knowing what will grow. It is a deliberately simple story lacking grammatical features such as adjectives to enable the reader to encourage the children to improve the story by adding their own ideas. The story has words missing, at which point children take it in turns to turn over one of their cards and read it to the group. The results can be hilarious, enabling children to really engage with the story and appreciate humour. The story includes elements of spelling that can be taught and /or consolidated. It supports Science and the conditions plants need to grow, which can be discussed if some rather bizarre cards are turned! It empahsises the need for a fair test and the importance of recording change.

Mary’s Diary is a rhyming story telling the Nativity story from Mary’s point of view as an excited new mum faced with a long journey, the struggle to find accommodation and the joyous arrival of Baby Jesus. It demonstrates the warmth of Mary and Joseph as parents. It encourages empathy through understanding feelings through the eyes of a child and their experiences, supporting SEMH. From an academic perspective, the story enables children to apply phonics and make educated guesses at unfamiliar words through the rhyming structure. Through Mary’s feelings and actions, children can begin to make inferences and develop oracy skills through role play. Presented as a power point, the story can be printed to avoid prolonged screen time.

A fun poem based on what might happen if an alien unexpectedly walked into the classroom and the reactions it might cause. It is accompanied by two Odd One Out activities to promote oracy skills and discussion along with an overview of National Curriculum coverage.