ABSTRACT
Space in the classroom is always at a premium, with display space particularly valuable. As a 'planning, preparation and assessment' cover teacher, to take some of this space took quite a bit of negotiation but was definitely worth the effort. The meta-thinking zone through religious education was built up over a term and remained a working feature of the classroom. Traffic light assessment with a learning comment was the expected method, but the children didn’t know what the learning comment could look like to give it value. The regular class teacher commented that the self-reflection at the end of each of her lessons was moving away from bland statements and was increasingly more informative and reflective. Building up the meta-thinking zone over time paved the way for considering big questions about beliefs. It enabled the children to articulate their thoughts and views by questioning why they know something and what it means to them.
