Chalice Arts UK Limited Display in Primary Schools Stephen Bruce

Display in Primary Schools Aim To provide an essential overview of good practice in primary school displays Objectives By the end of the session participants will be able to: Explain the rationale for primary school displays Recognise the qualities of good displays Understand advice and guidance on producing good quality displays

Rationale Work in groups and be prepared to feed back to the whole staff. In discussion think about the reasons why we have displays in school from the point of view of: a child a teacher a head teacher or governor a visitor Complete this task before showing the next slide

Rationale There are very sound educational reasons as to why displays are an essential part of a good or outstanding school’s work. Essentially to: celebrate, value and share children’s learning and progress Boost children’s confidence and self esteem promote visual learning and thinking and convey information demonstrate learning and progress demonstrate progress and quality between classes and across the school Encourage children to take an interest in the work of other children demonstrate the delivery of the curriculum/ SMSC

show case the exciting work of the school to parents and visitors create a purposeful and stimulating environment to foster learning create a stimulating environment in which to teach. create a sense of community and ownership of the school by children and staff. convey the school values and ethos and messages about standards.

Basic Guidelines for Displays There are no hard and fast rules for displays but the following principles help produce good quality displays. Plan displays at the start of a unit of work. Avoid clutter - the best displays are often simple and not overly crowded. Backing paper and mounts should enhance the children’s work and not detract from it. Keep work evenly spaced throughout the display. Use a grid system to help you think about the proportional arrangements and spaces between items. Lay work out on the floor, or pin it in place before finalising.

If you are dealing with large display areas with different types of work try breaking up the areas into sections As a general rule keep verticals vertical and horizontals horizontal. If you want to place work at angles then ensure they are balanced properly as this is more challenging. Avoid having things hanging off the boards where possible as these can get damaged or crinkle etc. Always have a bold title and label the display including interactive questions and provide a context for the work. Key questions to engage the viewer. When displaying 3D work consider varying the heights of some of the items. Consider the space around each item. How will you create labels etc? Let us look at some photographs of displays

Work in pairs or groups - 5 minutes discussion Evaluate the SEAL display Strengths Weaknesses Think of some advice you would give to help improve this display

Strengths, Weaknesses, Think of some advice you would give to help improve this display. Leave this slide on display during the task and feedback

The next 10 slides are of a variety of displays – all with strengths (some are very good) and others have plenty of things that could be improved. We will briefly pause on each slide to hear your first impressions – Strengths and areas for improvement.

Backing Paper Choose a backing paper that will enhance the display and not dominate it or detract attention from the display. Often pale colours looked washed out. Fluorescent colours dominate and should only be used for special effect. Royal blue, bright red, bright yellow, bright green, or black work well if work if mounted in a contrasting colour or in black or white. Backing paper needs to be flat and crinkle free. When displays are changed the backing paper also needs changing. Borders Around Displays Choose good quality border rolls. Corrugated seem to last longer than card and paper border rolls crinkle and turn up at the edges. Ensure border rolls are securely fastened. Most importantly choose colours carefully to compliment the backing paper. Blue on blue or red on red usually does not work well. Vary the colours of backing and border.

Mounting Work Nearly all work for display should be well mounted. Single vs double mounting – this depends on the work and what you want to achieve. Single is perfectly fine and double can enhance the work if special colours are needed to enhance. Guillotine mounts to ensure they are square – trim work prior to mounting to ensure it is square. Avoid using scissors to create straight edges – they rarely do produce straight edges. Early years work – tendency to cut out most of the work. Have a balance between cut out work and natural edges where the marks from the artwork can be seen. Crop rather than cut out an adult shape.

Good quality mounting is essential to celebrate a child’s work and to produce a good quality display. Time invested in this activity really is worthwhile. Fix work to mounts either with glue or staples close to the edges or in corners so as not to damage the work. Glues sticks are often not strong enough. PVA glue is a better option.

Fixing Work to the Wall Probably the best way is to use staples in the corners of the mount. Drawing pins are dangerous. Blue tac often fails and work falls off. Angle one corner of the staple gun (before you fire) so staples don’t go all the way into the display board and can be removed more easily. Follow your school policy on fixing work to the walls.

Building Blocks/ Technique for Creating a Display Back your board with an appropriate colour Put a boarder around it preferably corrugated Use a grid system to lay out the work (lay work on the floor or stick it to the board lightly with blu tac first to compose) Fix a title Add labels Add interactive questions Add items like photographs and pieces of writing The next 3 slides show how a basic display is created

Title Starting in the centre with the title (remember this is just a suggestion and not the only way)

Title Label Interactive Questions

Title Interactive Questions Photo Label Photo Label

Different Types of displays Information Displays Information displays as a teaching resource – these may not necessarily contain children’s work but similar display principles should be employed. Table Displays These need to be planned. There is a tendency to over clutter and not consider the composition of the display and how labels etc will be displayed. Consider Table coverings Varying height of objects e.g. 3D work, consider proportions Supporting books or flat objects on stands so they stand upright Consider backing behind a table top display e.g photographs, explanations etc Maintain your table displays –they often needs adjusting/ dusting regularly

This slide and the next are examples of information table top displays

Management of Displays Once a display is up there is a tendency to forget about it until it has to be taken down. During which time something may have fallen off, been torn, the border curls up etc. It is essential that displays are managed and checked over regularly to ensure they remain in good condition and look fresh. Sometimes work needs remounting if it is damaged. Everyone should help take responsibility – If you notice a display deteriorating then do something about it. Find ways to support each other e.g. TAs check displays and repair outside classrooms etc. Very Important

Replacing Displays Leave displays in place until the new display is fully prepared. All work mounted, labels etc made. Ensure the backing paper you need and border roll are in stock. Then remove your old display and replace it straight away. This method prevents having bare display boards while displays are being prepared.

Display Kits It can be a very useful timesaver if each class/ teacher has their own display kit. Staple gun Stapler Spare staples Staple remover or small pliers (small pliers are very useful) Scissors PVA glue/ glue sticks Blu tac/ Velcro pads etc Masking tape String Access to a guillotine

Selecting Work for Display How do you select work? (the display board may not be big enough for a whole classes work) What happens to work that is not selected? How do you ensure equal opportunity, fairness, positive self esteem of all pupils? A point for discussion. Pairs or groups or individual contributions.