Introducing Spring to your school

Introducing Spring to your school 

As the winter comes to an end, you’re going to be thinking about how to prepare for Spring. Here at GLS, we have you covered. We have set out ways to help you prep for the Spring term. We have laid out a list of tips and things to consider when prepping for Spring in your school.  

Write a to-do list   

The first thing to do before anything else is write down a list of everything you need to do. Think of any key dates that are coming up in the next few months that you could prepare for. This will act as a reminder of the important tasks that need to be carried out.  

Your list could look like:  

• Open events and parents' evenings  
• Governors' meetings  
• March and April management information  
• Staff and student wellbeing support  

Don’t forget about your own workload and personal lives when it comes to writing the list. Ensure to add in any personal tasks. These could include planning, cooking, and exercising.   

These tasks won’t be entirely down to you to carry out, other members of staff will assist with these. However, whatever is listed should be tasks you feel responsible for. 

Make sure your school is clean  

School cleanliness impacts the health of teachers and children. Having clean classrooms and hallways prevents viruses and germs from spreading around the school.  

Cleanliness is important not only for the health of students but also for teachers. Teachers are in close contact with their students throughout the day, so it's important that they have a clean environment in which to work. When classrooms and hallways aren't kept clean, germs can spread easily throughout the school, which can make it difficult for students to focus on their work.  

SBMs must ensure school classrooms and hallways are clean before the start of the year. Start by using detergents, anti-bac soaps, and cleaning wipes to clean floors and surfaces. In addition, maintaining a clean classroom helps keep children focused. If they see their teacher spend time cleaning up after them instead of teaching them new material, it can make them feel like they aren't being taken seriously as students or valued as people. 

Assist teachers with classroom layout 

Many factors involving classroom layouts can lead to an effective learning environment. Encourage staff to think about the layout of their classrooms and assist with making changes to improve students learning. Plus, a change around can be a huge boost for staff too as they spend a lot of time within the classroom therefore, they can feel motivated when layouts are changed. 

A huge thing to consider is the comfort of children as well as staff. If they aren’t comfortable, they won’t feel motivated. This is especially the case for children as they can get distracted easily when uncomfortable. Think about getting some comfy seating to improve posture or a space where beanbags can be used to take a break in. 

Create a learner and knowledge focused environment 

Strengthen students’ decision-making skills through a learner-focused environment. Allow students to decide what they want to learn and let them independently research it. This can replace some of the teacher-focused lessons and expand students’ knowledge in things they are interested in 

Knowledge-focused environments go hand in hand in with learner-focused environments as students will be able to receive a plethora of diverse materials in their own research. However, direct your staff to resources they can use and ensure that everyone has a diverse range of materials to give to their students. This will lead to student success and improve your learning environment. 

A school garden 

A school garden is a great way to get kids involved from an early age and can teach children the importance of caring for the environment. Getting kids involved in gardening has a bigger effect on children from an early age as they go through physical, emotional and social development in their childhood. 

We know that busy SBMs are often overwhelmed with the challenges of managing not just one garden but several at once. School gardens can be more complicated to look after than a home garden because they're larger and have more varied areas of growth. Starting out with a small garden will be more manageable and don't forget it'll need looking after during the school holidays too! 

Introduce Spring to your school can be difficult without a full plan. Follow these tips to make sure your school is ready and prepped for the start of Spring. With Easter coming up, you also want to be sure you have everything you need. For more information on what you need to purchase, check out our bulk buying spring crafts blog.