Astrea Academy Trust Project
Inspiring beyond measure
Aligning learning environments with the needs of the brain
This is a year-long project equipping educators with Brain-SET principles to align learning environments with the needs of the brain.
The project allowed educators to reflect on their own practice, extend their current skillset, enhance their knowledge and understanding around how children’s brains work and develop their pedagogy and physical spaces.
What did the project involve?
Setting up purposeful spaces in the early childhood classroom to align with the needs of the brain.
As part of the Brain-SET Formula training program, the early childhood educators at Astrea primary schools worked closely with the UK’s Brain-SET official trainer Dr Sue Allingham. This consisted of professional and personal development sessions, training events, setting visits and ongoing coaching and mentoring.
The mentoring provides support to ensure the ongoing authentic implementation of the key concepts and pedagogical requirements of the Brain-SET Environments Formula.
What is Brain-SET?
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A calm brain is a thinking brain
The Brain-SET Formula is supporting educators at Astrea Academy Trust to:
- Understand recent research in brain development
- Create calming environments which are conducive to learning
- Underpin their pedagogy with neuroscience
- Continue moving forward by enhancing already exemplary practice
- Deeply reflect on their practice, both individually and collaboratively
- Understand the ‘why’ behind every classroom design decision they make
- Share their knowledge and practice with other educators, leadership teams and families
- Build their confidence and feel empowered
- Develop their leadership skills further
- Feel inspired and enthusiastic about their teaching
- Work closer within their existing teams
Project podcast series
Our first episode is from the founder of Brain-SET Dr Kathryn Murray. We then hear from the Trust leaders on how the project began and why, as well as the educators who engaged in the project, sharing the impact on the children and themselves as educators.
We also have the chance to see the environments in action through a classroom tour and a wealth of before and after images, take a look at the educator interviews below.
Astrea Academy Trust
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Dr Kathryn Murray talks us through the Brain-SET Environments Formula, which is all about creating a calm learning environment through a skills based pedagogy. Dr Murray explains that it is much more than where you put the furniture; she shares with us a deeper look at creating learning environments with brain development at the centre.
In this episode Asma Maqsood-Shah (Primary Regional Director for Astrea Academy Trust and Strategic Lead for EY) and Nicky Turner (National Lead for EY for Astrea Academy Trust) share the background to the project and talk us through the impact on children, families, educators and leaders so far.
In this episode Dr Sue Allingham (Early Childhood Consultant, Author and Trainer) and Nicky Turner (National Lead for EY for Astrea Academy Trust) share with us the way the project is running, the training carried out and the reflections and impact so far.
In this episode Sarah Mason from The Hill Primary School, Astrea Academy Trust, shares with us the journey she and her team have been on in developing their learning environment in line with understanding the way children’s brain develops. This was part of the Brain-SET Learning Environments project which Astrea Academy Trust embarked on, looking at classroom design through the lens of children’s brain development.
Lauren Middleton and Melissa Wilson from Hartley Brook Primary School, Astrea Academy Trust, talk about how their practice and understanding has changed since embarking on the Brain-SET project.
Sarah Mason, Early Years Lead at The Hill Primary School, walks us through her reception classroom as herself and Dr Sue Allingham reflect on early years learning environments as part of the Brain-SET Learning Environments project.
Leanne Geraghty, Nursery Teacher at Kingfisher Primary School, talks about the work which has been conducted at her school around early years environments as part of the year-long Brain-SET project.
Katie Adamski, Principal at Carrfield Primary School (Astrea Academy Trust), discusses how early years educators have been putting their professional development into practice as part of the Brain-SET Learning Environments project.
Lisa Boyer, Early Years Teacher at Astrea Academy Sheffield, shares her reflections on the early years environments work which Astrea Academy Trust has been taking part in alongside Dr Sue Allingham through the Brain-SET Learning Environments project.
The classroom environments created throughought the project...
The before photos of classroom environments...
What is Brain-SET?
Find out below from the founder of Brain-SET:
Dr Kathryn Murray
In Brain-SET we look at the brain as having 3 levels....
At the bottom is the brain stem with the function of ensuring that we are safe and we can Survive, the limbic system near the ear, houses our Emotional responses to the environment or people, while the neocortex in the top part of the brain is the Thinking part of the brain. The S.E.T. levels work together to support natural learning. This is conditional on the 2 lower levels (the Survival and Emotional levels) harmonising to experience a sense of safety, and feel secure, valued, wanted and safe.
A natural consequence of setting up the learning environment using the Brain-SET Formula is that the classroom is calm, children are engaged, and deep relationships are built. However, when the 2 lower levels of the brain detect a threat, the cortisol hormone (stress response) floods the upper level and slows down the thinking. Memory, decision-making, problem-solving processes and more become ‘foggy’ in the neocortex – the Thinking part of the brain…
