A new school year can be so exciting – a fresh start, a chance to make your classroom look beautiful and get organised. But as well as making sure your classroom works well and looks good (you will be spending every day in it, so you need to like looking at it!), it’s important to make sure that it’s a welcoming, positive space for the children. While the start of a new year can be exciting, some children can feel nervous, anxious, and a bit unsettled. So here are our tips to decorate your classroom so you can make a great start to the new school year! We’re featuring our Good Vibes display pack here, to boost the positive vibes in your classroom.
Display a Welcome Sign
Your classroom door is such a key area when it comes to a child’s first impression, so use that to your advantage and add some door décor! Our display packs come with welcome signs perfect for hanging on your door, or on the well next to it if you tend to leave your door open. We especially love the Good Vibes welcome sign as it’s covered in affirmations to give your students a boost as they walk into your classroom! (There’s also Good Vibes bunting if you wanted to spread the positivity around the room!)
Label your Resources
Create clear labels for everything the children may need to use – scissors, glue, pens and pencils (if these are shared), any resources the children might need for their work. Make sure to pop them in accessible, easy-to-find places. This way, the children will be able to feel independent in your classroom since if they need something, they know where to find it and are able to go and get it by themselves. Our display packs have editable labels so you can easily create and print all the labels you’ll need to help your students find their way around. Feeling independent and like they can access what they need will help children to feel more at ease in the space – and may save you some time handing out items!
Create an Affirmation Mirror
We’ve seen this idea all over the internet and we think it’s brilliant! First, you’ll need a mirror – ideally a full length one. Hunt around a few charity shops to see if you can pick one up second hand. Then, you’ll surround it with affirmations, positive statements, and words to boost self-esteem! You could use our Good Vibes border printables and run them all around the frame, so children can see themselves surrounded by the bright, happy vibes. You could also print off our affirmation posters to put on the wall all around the mirror – these have positive slogans like ‘I am kind’, ‘I am proud of myself’, and ‘I don’t always need to be perfect’. Encourage your students to head to it whenever they need a boost, or use it as a way to start the day. We love this example by @teachinginmusiccity on instagram.
Use a Daily Calendar
Using a calendar and checking in with it each morning can be a fantastic way to start off each day. Our display packs have all the bits you’ll need to print and create your own calendar, so you can display this on a board in your classroom. Use it as an opportunity to treat each day as a new start. If you’re in the earlier years, you can use a calendar in morning circle time, or just check in with it after the register each morning. What day is today? How are you feeling today? Is there something you’d like to achieve today? If you had a bad day yesterday, let’s start fresh and think about how today will be better! This can be a really visual way of creating a fresh start each day.
Pin Up Engaging Learning Posters
Of course, as well as creating a welcoming and positive space, we also want learning to feel like a positive experience. A fun way to do this is by creating engaging posters and information sheets to pop around your classroom – key info or things children may need to refer back to. If they’re going to use it and look at it again and again, why not make it fun to look at! Of course, not all teachers will have time to create these, so we have created a bunch for you to choose from in our display packs to save you some time.
Creating a positive and welcoming space is a great way to start the new school year, but it’s also a good way to encourage a good sense of wellbeing all throughout the year. We’re sending some good vibes your way!
