Displays in classrooms can be a thorny issue.

In local authority maintained schools in England, displays are one of the activities listed in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions document as an example of an administrative task that teachers should not be asked to routinely undertake. There are also arguments against displays from a pedagogical point of view.

However, we must accept that creating displays is something many of us do and some of us even enjoy it.

So if you are putting up displays, how can you make the most of your classroom without giving up all of your time? Here are my low-effort, high-impact suggestions:

Back to school: Easy ways to create classroom displays

1. Write on the cupboards

I don’t mean grab a Sharpie and drive your caretaker mad, but on most cupboards you can use wipeable whiteboard pens and create a no-fuss display space.

Plus, the children will love watching you be “naughty” and write all over the cupboards.

I personally use this for writing vocabulary and synonyms, and it has really helped stick these in the children’s heads.

2. Trays

Potentially controversial one here, but after finding one too many rotten pieces of fruit in a dark and dismal tray, I made the decision to abandon trays and I will never go back.

Firstly, scrapping the trays frees up so much classroom and desk space. Secondly, children don’t have the space to try and hide fidgets, doodles or notes.

Finally, children having to actually maintain their “tidy” desk space rather than just cramming everything in a tray actually teaches greater independence, self-organisation and responsibility.

3. Swap sticky-back plastic for laminate

I hate sticky-back plastic. Personally, it takes me hours to get it even close to flat and even then, I am never happy with it.

A quick, easy and reusable solution is to laminate large A3 sheets of squared and lined paper and staple these to the wall. They actually wipe off better, too.

4. Prepare in advance

Have you been guilty of forgetting who you have and haven’t given celebration certificates to? What happens if you lose the list?

This solution solves the display problem and provides a handy memory prompt. The teacher writes every celebration certificate out before the year begins and keeps it in a folder on the wall.

As each child gets their certificate, they’ll be taken down from the wall, and off your list with no fuss.

5. Keep things straight

When it comes to putting lettering up on the wall, wonky writing can be distracting and irritating.

To solve this, you can start putting words on the wall from the middle letter and work outwards to make sure your words line up in the middle of your display, and also keep the lettering straight.

Another good tip is that you can line it up on a table first and cover it with a straight line of tape. Then tape the letters to the display, staple and remove the tape. Ta da - straight letters!

Sometimes, though, if you get too far in and realise it’s all wonky, you can just embrace it. If you keep everything angular then there is no pressure to make straight lines and it can look fun and eye-catching - even if achieved by accident.

What are your top tips for saving time with displays? 

Cathy Cooper is a primary school teacher. She tweets at @MissC_primary_