Display and Wall Planner

Who this is for

The walls of the room, planned for the term. Each board or wall has a row with its theme, the date it goes up, the date it comes down, who is doing it and what it needs, with a checklist for the materials to gather before the afternoon you set aside.

Class teachers and teaching assistants who inherit a room full of last year's display and a term to fill it, and departments that share boards along a corridor.

What this helps you track

• Which boards and walls there are, and what each one will show this term
• When each display goes up and when it comes down, so nothing stays up all year by accident
• Who is doing each one, when several people share the room or the corridor
• The backing paper, borders, lettering and fixings to gather before you start
• The displays that need pupil work collected first, and by when

How to use it

1. Write the room or corridor, the teacher and the term at the top.
2. Walk the room and give each board, wall or window a row, with its size or position if that helps whoever is doing it.
3. Decide the theme for each — a topic, a working wall, pupil work, a class charter — and write the dates it goes up and comes down.
4. Put a name against each row so the work is shared out before the last week of term.
5. Tick the materials checklist as you gather things, and add your own items at the foot.
6. Keep the sheet and mark what worked; next term's plan starts from this one.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Does it say what a classroom should display?

No. What goes on the walls is for you and your school. The sheet plans whatever you decide, board by board, and reminds you to take it down.

Can I sketch the layout?

The printed sheet has a squared area at the foot for a rough plan of the room. The rows are the plan; the sketch is there to show where each board sits.

What if a display stays up all year?

Write the end of the year in the take-down column so it is a decision rather than an accident, and the row still tells the next teacher when the room was last changed.

Is the materials list complete?

It covers the things most displays use. Add what yours need — string, pegs, a laminator booking — in the browser version, which lets you add your own items.