Ecole Primaire du Mas

France

The flexible classroom:
Rethinking teaching spaces and practices to improve the well-being of pupils and the school climate

Focus Area

Well-being and school climate, conflict management, inclusion and respecting differences

Target Group

Year 1: 6 to 9 year old Year 2: 7 to 10 year old

By Manon Metrat, school head and teacher at the Ecole Primaire Chazeau, Firminy, France

Purpose of the flexible classroom

As part of the SHE4AHA project and our objective to work school climate, we set up a flexible classroom. This involves installing equipment and physically organizing the classroom to best meet the needs of the pupils.

Implementing the flexible classroom

Layout, materials and space management

There are several types of desks and chairs available: traditional chairs, big balloons, dynamic tumble stools, etc. We also propose other specific pieces of furniture and a layout that allows work to be done in groups, for example in clusters. In this way, each child can choose to work seated, standing up, on a moving seat or on a fixed seat, thereby reducing the disruption in the classroom caused by having to remain seated on a chair. This is not for everyone. The classroom is designed so that the pupils can move around differently depending on learning times. The tables are arranged so that there can be times for independent or group work, as well as group times with a collective area.

About Ecole Primaire du Mas

Ecole Primaire du Mas is a state school, located in the countryside on the outskirts of Firminy, a small town of approximately 17,000 inhabitants close to Saint Etienne. The school outside the town centre, in a rather rural area, with a high proportion of professionals and little social diversity.

The local education district was very interested in the project, given that the municipality wanted to work more with the national education authorities towards children’s health. Strengthening the community around the school was also an important element for the national education inspector.

The layout of the classroom changes regularly so that the pupils can rediscover their classroom and make suggestions about what layout they prefer. The pupils change places every week; they have a tray with their school material. They are able to choose the place they wish to take during the week. After a while, they are able to see what suits them best, so that they can progress and work. The use of the corridor and the head teacher’s office, which are adjacent to the classroom, means that the pupils have access to different areas to do workshops alone or in small groups without disturbing the other pupils. This also allows the pupils to escape the presence of the class group and have quieter times.

A space where the child feels good and wants to take possession of it, helps to keep the pupil motivated and more available for learning.

Teaching Practice

On the other hand, the aim is to make teaching more flexible by introducing a different way of operating based on differentiation (different timescales, different requirements, etc.), with the introduction of tutorial and group activities, for example: the pupils have a work plan and they follow it. Once they have finished, they have access to the workshops: construction or card games, but also mental arithmetic activities.

As is the case in nursery schools, these workshops can be organized for children up to CM2 (when pupils are in their last year of primary school). It’s a way of getting them to work in a different way. It doesn’t mean that the children do what they want. Quite the opposite. The rules need to be well set and clear to the whole group for it to work.

The layout of the flexible classroom works, as long as you are precise in the rules you expect pupils to respect, but also in the teaching. It is a space that must be set up for the well-being of the pupils and the teacher, so that it can be used to best effect and to encourage everyone’s motivation.

As far as I’m concerned, it’s true that I’m much stricter than my colleagues. But that’s how I operate. You have to find your own, to explore different avenues about which direction to take, and to know what you’re going to be able to accept or not. More broadly, our school has also been involved in other activities as part of the implementation of the health-promoting schools framework, particularly on promoting physical activity and around food. These activities have enabled us to work with other schools that are also involved in this initiative, thereby promoting diversity and inclusion, preparing older children to start at secondary school, and strengthening links and communication with all members of the educational community, as well as with other partners, particularly associations.

Evaluation

No formal evaluation of the implementation of the health-promoting schools framework has been carried out within the school, but our teaching team have discussed which projects should or should not be renewed, depending on how well they were received by the pupils, how they went with the partners, and funding constraints.

An evaluation was carried out by the local district inspector. We do not know the results.

Finally, a researcher worked with us on the implementation of the flexible classroom. Pupils filled in questionnaires before and after the actual implementation. He looked at what this produced in terms of motivation, well-being and stress. The results have not yet been published, so I can’t share them.

Project results

We observed that the pupils were more responsible and autonomous in their tasks between the beginning and the end of the year. The class as a group communicates a lot and listens more. There are fewer conflicts; there is also more kindness, mutual aid and cooperation. And the children work in a calmer atmosphere. In short, this flexible class layout helps to give pupils a say in what they learn and in their lives at school.

Challenges

Over the course of the project, we had to face several challenges, which we overcame.

Challenge 1: We faced a lack of involvement from some teachers towards the health-promoting school approach: indeed, it was perceived as an additional burden.

The solution we found: We refocused our working group on a driving core of motivated teachers to boost others and bring them out of their comfort zone gently, by trying to value the skills implemented in the projects.

Challenge 2: We also encountered difficulties in mobilizing all the partners and to coordinate our actions.

The solution we found: We relied on the involvement of the district to liaise with the municipality and target actions according to the needs identified.

Challenge 3: Certain financial constraints may have limited the implementation of certain elements of the project.

The solution we found: We applied for grants from the municipality, Saint Etienne Métropole, and the parents’ association. We have also invited parents to contribute financially towards the costs of certain activities.

Facilitating Factors

The factors that helped our project were:

- - the motivation and involvement of the teaching team
- - the support from the municipality (premises, staff, subsidies)
- - the funding from the parent association.

Training

The training also provided us with knowledge to improve our understanding of the health-promoting school. It also enabled us to carry out an initial evaluation of our school, thanks to the Rapid Assessment Tool proposed during the training.

SHE School Guide

We have found this document to be accessible and rich in concepts and information. It is useful, but each member of the school community needs to play their part fully and get involved if it is to have an impact. We relied heavily on the Rapid Assessment Tool provided in this guide for our initial evaluation. It enabled us to realise that we were already doing things towards health promotion. Because sometimes you can get the impression that you’re not doing very much, but in fact when you make the list, you see that, in the end, you are already doing things. And that enabled us to target our actions initially, so we didn’t spread ourselves too thin: we started with one line first and then, once that was established, we were able to work on something else.

Recommendations

- - Share your experience with other teachers who are interested, by welcoming observers into your classroom, to inspire the implementation of similar layouts.
- - Don’t hesitate to rely on other members of the school team to find solutions together. Indeed, we don’t all have the same skills, and that precious and enriching.
- - It’s important to have access to training in line with the team’s own needs.
- - Every member of the school community must be involved and play their part in the health-promoting school approach.