The Learning Environment

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Getting the environment right

A child and young person’s learning environment is the area and culture within which they learn, encompassing their physical, social and emotional surroundings. A positive learning environment can support all to flourish. Without safe and secure surroundings, a child or young person’s ability to learn is severely hindered. In Renfrewshire, a number resources support how we develop our learning spaces, including the CIRCLE Framework:

The environment includes both the physical and social factors. The physical environment refers to the physical layout of the classroom/playroom and the resources used within it. The social environment concerns the attitudes, expectations and actions of peers and adults.

CIRCLE 2021

To promote the development of inclusive classroom environments as best practice in all our establishments, RNRA, RICE and the CIRCLE resource can be used to support staff across all sectors to ensure they have effective environments.

In early years, an adapted model of the CIRCLE Inclusive Environment Scale is used. This provides support in auditing, creating, and maintaining an inclusive early years environment in terms of the physical environment, the social environment, and structure and routines.

Up, Up and Away (CIRCLE Collaboration) supports a communication rich environment. As well as a literacy rich environment tool, is includes a reflective tool for enriching communication offering vocabulary strategies, and a wellbeing tool offering tailored supportive strategies for children.

The physical environment in early years, should promote children’s engagement and should include a range of open ended and natural resources, be representative of children’s ideas and interests and, enable them to lead their own learning. This takes place in a variety of contexts – indoors, outdoors and in the community - not only through physical spaces and experiences but through sensitive practitioner interactions that move learning forward and add value to what the children already know and can do. The environment should reflect the unique social context of the setting and have real-life relevance.

This is all underpinned by a positive and nurturing social environment to foster a sense of belonging and ownership.

In primary schools, the first couple of years should reflect early learning environments, using approaches to play and developing inquiry-based learning. Primary and secondary establishments are again encouraged to make use of the CIRCLE Framework to ensure an inclusive environment which reduces the extent to which further additional support is required for specific learners and allows the implementation of individual support to be minimally intrusive.

It is also important to take cognisance of learner’s views/perspective to give them a sense of ownership and sense of pride in their environment. This can be done in a variety of ways, including:

• Displays of learner’s work, designed by them and used by them

• Involving them in the seating plan – how do they learn best?

• Plan with them the resources they need access to

• Representing the diversity within the classroom within displays and resources

• Taking account of learner’s preferred styles of learning e.g. visual, auditory etc

• Reviewing the environment, resources etc with learners throughout the school year to find out what is working for them

The Health and Safety of all, staff, children and young people and visitors across establishments, is also a vital consideration when developing learning environments. A variety of resources and guidance are available to support staff to ensure a safe working and learning environment for all.