One of the questions we get asked quite frequently both as teachers and resource providers is – what are my classroom must haves? Obviously this differs between age groups, but we thought it might be useful to provide a sort of definitive list of some essentials you need for your classroom, especially useful if you are an NQT or just looking for some new ideas! Some of these resources we have, some we are making in time for the new year, and some are non printables. Either way, hopefully you will find something useful here.
Classroom Management Essentials
- Common exception word mats -laminated and put on each table, especially for years 1 and year 2.
- Maths and English working wall display.
- Some sort of calendar display – especially for KS1.
- Conjunctions displayed on the wall (coming soon!).
- Wipe clean number lines to 100.
- Bead strings
- Class set of clocks.
- Place value cards.
- 100 squares
- Coins and dice.
- Sound mats.
- CVC words printed and put onto rings for each child.
- Common exception word wall.
- “Have a go” book for spellings.
- Pen/pencil pots for your tables.
- Whiteboards and pens.
- Teacher whiteboard pens.
- Dictionaries and thesauruses
- Stationery such as rulers, pens, felt tips, pencils etc.
- Envelopes for lost teeth!
- A notebook for yourself.
- Some sort of positive behaviour display.
- Class rules posters.
- Line guides.
- Both child and adult scissors.
- Laminator and laminating pouches.
- Glue sticks.
- Coloured paper and card.
- Wall stapler and wall stapler remover.
- Staple gun and staples.
- Binder rings and single hole punch.
- Handwriting pens.
- Seating plan.
- Hand sanitizer.
- Something to record who has won star of the day/head teacher award to make sure these are distributed fairly.
- Counting cubes – I used to use these in years 5 and 6 to demonstrate maths in a practical way, so definitely valid for every year group.
- Tray labels.
- Book labels.
- A good supply of reading books for the children to just pick up and look at, preferably in a nice and cosy reading corner/area.
- A good quality rug if you don’t have a carpet.
I’ll keep adding to this list as the summer goes on!
