We've recently been using Development Cycles as the main way to do our professional learning. We get together as a group, set up individual Development Cycles, and then set our goals and start learning. Every other week, we come together to discuss what we've learned and tried out so far in our classes. This rhythm seems to be helpful as it is predictable, and ensures that everyone has a focus to their PD work. Development Cycles are the real anchor for everything we do.

We're also having regular 'cross-team' sharing through existing meetings (such as staff briefings) - one or two teams share what they're working on, and what they're trying in their own classrooms.

The new techniques in the GTT are really helpful. We've been exploring these in the Resources section, but the way that they're matched to individual needs in Development Cycles has made technique choice really easy for us to do.

In October, I used the student surveys in the GTT to get some feedback from my class on Dimension 3, which is my focus this year. I also did a quick Self-reflection Survey, and that helped me to think about what I should be working to improve this year.

The survey data helped me to understand the experience of my class from the perspectives of my children. They indicated that transitions between activities seemed to not be as clear and effective as they could be. This surprised me a bit, but I talked to the children about what they meant, and they gave me some examples (for instance, when we transition from whole class reading to a different learning task, some of them said they just closed their book and then sat and waited because they didn't really know what to do next).

I've created a Development Cycle (it only took a few seconds!) and set the goal of improving our transitions in class. The technique that the GTT then suggested to me was called Explicitly Teaching Routines. I chose that technique and have been working on my planning and implementation steps in the Develop Expertise section of my current Development Cycle.

Following recent training on Positive Regard, staff identified the importance of further strengthening our whole-school culture of belonging. Given the significant number of children with neurodiverse profiles and those with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs—many of whom have experienced trauma—we recognised the need to embed practices that promote safety, inclusion, and emotional security for all learners.

In response to this, we have selected Dimension 2: Creating a Supportive Environment from the Great Teacher Toolkit as our collective focus area. This dimension complements and deepens our Positive Regard approach, helping us to ensure that every child feels valued, respected, and understood. Through this work, we aim to cultivate classrooms where relationships are strong, behaviour is guided by empathy, and pupils are empowered to take ownership of their learning.

To reinforce the importance of this priority, Dimension 2 has been incorporated into all staff performance management targets. This alignment ensures a shared responsibility and accountability for embedding supportive practices across the school. We have also allocated dedicated staff meeting time for professional learning linked to this dimension, enabling staff to engage in collaborative reflection, share effective strategies, and jointly develop approaches that promote a sense of belonging and emotional safety.

Ongoing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) sessions are being planned to provide high-quality input and opportunities for practical application. Staff will use evidence-informed activities from the Great Teacher Toolkit to explore what a supportive environment looks like in different contexts and to refine classroom practice accordingly. We are also planning to use the video tool as part of this practice.

Through this focused and collective approach, we aim to:

• Strengthen the consistency of relationships and routines across the school.

• Deepen staff understanding of the impact of trauma and neurodiversity on learning and behaviour.

• Ensure all pupils experience a strong sense of belonging and emotional safety.

• Embed a reflective and collaborative professional culture among staff.

This work reflects our ongoing commitment to ensuring that every member of our school community feels supported, included, and able to thrive—academically, socially, and emotionally.

Context: We are a large two-form entry primary school, located in Cockermouth with over 450 pupils on roll and over 70 staff. We have higher than average SEND (18%) but lower the national average EAL and Disadvantaged (7.5%- Pupil Premium).

At Fairfield Primary School, we are now in our third year of the Questioning Dimension (second year of embedding- preparing to ‘step-up’) having first explored and implemented the GTT in the academic year 2023/24.

September 2023: in-depth analysis of our application of our Teaching and Learning Policy (the foundations of which mirror Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction) and we felt we could further develop our teachers’ use of explicit questioning in the classroom.

This coincided with our shift of placing greater emphasis on formative assessment throughout the curriculum.

To begin, we held a ‘buy-in’ session. We allowed staff time to reflect on their questioning pedagogy and the reasons as to why we felt the GTT would further aid the learning ethos in the school- rooted in research-led instruction and information.

The session also allowed us to gauge questions the staff had in relation to the course- the main ones stemming from time and practical application.

As leaders, we ensured we listened to the team and planned sessions accordingly.

All teaching staff completed the Foundation Module, which further aided the ‘buy-in’ as they were able to hear more about the extensive research the GTT is based on. The fact they felt listened to and they heard a clear purpose, in turn aided motivation and enthusiasm.

We then scheduled ‘protected time’ throughout the academic year to allow teachers to move through the dimension, one module at a time- the GTT was the priority in staff meeting planning.

At the end of each module, a session would be scheduled, which allowed the team time to come together for coaching, reflection and discussion.

As leaders, we were a couple of modules ahead (purposely) as this allowed us sufficient time to prepare for the reflective team sessions. Teachers were given the autonomy to trial different strategies in their classrooms and an email thread of discussion was opened- thus allowing for continuous reflection.

The reflective sessions also allowed us to convey the important take-away points/ actions, giving us the confidence that all staff were receiving the same, consistent information.

For some staff, the academic research was a lot and others may have been distracted by the ‘busy-ness’ of school life.

Our approach allowed all staff to complete the modules (broken in manageable chunks- to prevent the feeling of being ‘overwhelmed’) and key reflective sessions to share learning, reflect on pedagogy and explore implementation in classrooms. These were incredibly powerful as a tool for enhancing pedagogical practice.

The sessions would have practical elements, where staff would trial strategies with one another, plan collaboratively and reflect on media such as live videos to offer feedback.

From these sessions and the online learning, the teachers carried-out, we re-wrote the questioning strand of our Teaching and Learning Policy together (as a team) as we had collectively decided on new questioning strategies that we felt were right for our setting, through our learning, reflections and trials.

These being:

1. ‘think, pair, share’ (much greater emphasis on activating hard thinking),

2.cold calling,

3. mini-whiteboards (including consistent mantras/ routines for application to reduce cognitive load),

4. entry and exit ticket questions

5. as well as hinge questions.

In its second year, questioning was embedded and we explored how such strategies are applicable to every subject- with a focus on applying the strategies to foundation subjects.

A session was carried-out with Governors so they understood why ‘Questioning’ remained on our SDP despite ‘being done’ the previous the year. We used the driving a car analogy, where we compared the first year of Questioning to the theory test and the second the ‘driving test’. Moreover, upon completion of their GTT questioning strand, all teachers completed their self-analysis, within which they had to identify a specific area of questioning as a focus. This was then built into their annual appraisals.

To further support this, each teacher has been paired with a colleague and we have developed a questioning coaching pro-forma which is providing teachers with the opportunity to coach one another, celebrate strengths and support with any areas for further development (we used the self-analysis to aid the pairing process).

Questioning also features within all pupil voice groups, monitoring exercises and continues to feature on the SDP, thus showcasing our on-going commitment.

In July 2025, we were incredibly proud to showcase our journey to professor Rob Coe and his team during a school visit, who left impressed by our approach.

September 2025: we have deliberately kept questioning on our SDP this year with the intention of fine-tuning/ refining practice in areas identified from the previous year’s staff analysis, including cold-calling (strategies to aid those more ‘anxious’ pupils) and revisiting hinge questioning.

This year, we have developed a GTT team- a lot of staff volunteered to be part of this team across the school showing the thirst for such research and continuous development. The team will lead on the implementation, which again, will further strengthen the whole staff’s ‘buy-in’ as it isn’t just being planned by school leaders.

Alongside this, we have begun our new focus based on the Dimension ‘Explanation’. This focus was chosen in conjunction with the newly formed GTT Team, with the hope to:

· present and communicate new ideas clearly, with concise, appropriate, engaging explanations;

· connecting new ideas to what has previously been learnt (and re-activating/checking that prior knowledge);

· use examples (and non-examples) appropriately to help learners understand and build connections;

· model/ demonstrate new skills or procedures with appropriate scaffolding and challenge;

· use worked/part-worked examples;

· duel-coding.

This dimension was selected as it felt a natural next step after questioning, as well a recognition that:

· time is precious in the classroom- demands of the curriculum;

·we need all teacher talk/ instruction to be meaningful and strike the right balance;

· explanations need to provide meaning and not overcomplicate- communication should be powerful and efficient from teachers.

In October, we held a ‘buy-in’ session with the staff where we discussed our rationale behind the chosen dimension and provided time to explore the potential barriers that staff may foresee which could hinder successful implementation. We also took time to celebrate our journey to date and the difference the GTT and linked pedagogical practice has had on teaching and learning across the school.

We have rolled out our proposed cycle for implementation for the new dimension, which includes: agreed directed time, one module of focus per half-term, half-termly meetings to discuss, reflect trial in classrooms/ with colleagues, agree approaches to effective explanation, coaching and a commitment that this will take time to be successfully embedded.

In addition to this, we have several other Teaching and Learning CPD projects running across school, which all perfectly align with the GTT (Questioning and Explaining), these include: Passive Learners in the Classroom, Sentenced to Success and Maths Mastery, including Mastering Number.

We certainly aren’t perfect, but our commitment, motivation and dedication to CPD linked to high-quality teaching is having the desired impact on our culture and pupil outcomes.

Colleagues involved in the GTT do so as part of their allocated 20 hours of CPD.

Based on our most recent OFSTED inspection, our Teaching and learning priorities for the year are:

-              Checking for understanding

-              Adaptive teaching

-              Task Design

The GTT programme at Netherhall School is structured around 6 key meeting points across the year. I run the sessions three times during the week so all colleagues are able to attend.  

We initially met at the end of September to discuss our focus for the year and to link our chosen element to our enquiry questions, which are aligned to the schools improvement priorities.

Below is the percentage for each element:

4.1 = 26%

4.2 = 21%

4.3 = 12%

4.4 = 5%

4.5 = 29%

4.6 = 5%

Following our initial meeting, colleagues completed their individual surveys, a self reflection and peer reflection.

Overall, we have had 901 student responses and as a result, I have been able to see whole school feedback for elements 4.1, 4.2 and 4.5 which has proved useful in planning additional professional learning on a whole school level.

At the next meeting, I shared my results with colleagues and we worked through together to explore my goals before completing this collaboratively. Colleagues are now working through their first development cycle having chosen a strategy to trial and will feedback at our next meeting in February.  

We continue to use the Model for Great Teaching to aid our lesson visits and department spotlights and professional learning recommendations following lesson visits are based around the valuable resources (particularly the technique templates) and student surveys available to colleagues on the GTT.

Moving forward, I have a key group of colleagues who are going to use the video feedback tool which we will share with the group in February.

I am focusing on Element 4.1 - Structuring. I teach a GCSE class with one EHCP student and a high percentage of PP/low literacy students. My enquiry question is based around the use of visual and written scaffolds. Although this will be useful learning for my GCSE teaching, it will also help me at KS3 level as I am teaching year 7 for the first time in quite a few years!

I have completed a student survey for both my year 10 and year 11 groups and it identified that I need to summarise key learning at the end of the lesson.

In setting up my development cycle, I have initially chosen the development goal of “Signal objectives, rationale and progress clearly” and intend to explore the sharing learning intentions template. I also intend to explore visualisers to develop my scaffolding further.

I will video myself teaching and share within the platform, focused specifically on these areas.

Developing Teaching & Metacognition to improve learner outcomes and staff practice.

✅ Key Achievements

• 📘 TLA Strategy Embedded – Consistent across curriculum areas.

• 🤝 TLA Conference – Collaboration & innovation celebrated.

• 🧠 Lesson Framework – Metacognition-based, piloted in Maths & English; mandatory now, wider rollout planned.

• 🔍 Research in Practice Group – Staff-led inquiry for evidence-informed teaching.

• 📈 Impact on Outcomes – Achievement rates improved for Functional Skills English & GCSE Maths.

  🔮 Next Steps

  • 🚀 Roll out Lesson Framework college-wide.

  • 🧠 Continue embedding metacognitive strategies.

  • 🔗 Strengthen research culture & cross-department collaboration

    
    

    🎯 Focus 25/26 (Second Year)

  Enhancing Teaching Practices to Support Belonging
  (Dimension 2 – Great Teaching Toolkit)

✅ Purpose

• Embed strategies that promote student belonging.

• Improve engagement, motivation, and outcomes across all curriculum areas.

• The GTT is forming the focus of our "Implementing Well" Implementation Plan

🏆 Objectives

• 🔍 Raise awareness of belonging in effective teaching.

• 📚 Share best practices for inclusive classrooms.

• 💬 Develop staff confidence in relational & culturally responsive pedagogy.

• 🎯 Align approaches with TLA Strategy: inclusive practice, learner voice, high expectations.

We wanted to feel more confident in our teaching and give our pupils the best learning experience possible. For us, that meant:

• Having the right tools and resources to improve our practice.

• Following an approach backed by research, not just trends.

• Working in a culture where we could openly reflect on our teaching and learn from each other without fear of criticism.

We began by completing the Foundation course as a leadership team and leading a whole-staff launch. That day set the tone—we felt part of something purposeful. We planned a year of GTT sessions so we could learn at our own pace without extra pressure.

When we analysed our needs, we realized that explaining concepts clearly was our biggest area for growth. Focusing on Dimension 4.2 gave us a clear target. We used student surveys to understand what was working and what wasn’t. Their feedback was eye-opening—it made us rethink how we connect new ideas to prior knowledge.

Throughout the year, we worked through the self-study course and joined Teaching Triangle observations. At first, being observed felt daunting, but soon we saw it as a chance to grow. The feedback was constructive and rooted in evidence, which made us trust the process.
Completing the Explaining course transformed how we teach. We now use strategies like segmenting and signalling to make lessons clearer. We’ve seen our pupils respond with more engagement and confidence, and that feels incredibly rewarding.

We’ve also grown personally and professionally. Setting our own goals gave us a sense of autonomy—we’re not just following a program; we’re shaping our own development. We feel part of a culture where improvement is normal and celebrated.

This year, some of us achieved NPQs and others became ITT mentors, and it inspires us to keep pushing ourselves. We’re proud that we’re committed to continuing this journey with the WELL project and GTT next year. For us, this isn’t just CPD—it’s a mindset shift.

We decided as a group to focus on Element 4.3: Questioning. We looked through the modules and discussed our strengths in school, as well as areas that we feel we need to develop. On the whole, we all thought that questioning was an area which we needed to improve across school in all areas of the curriculum.

We have allocated staff meeting times to complete self-study times and to come together as a staff team to provide our thoughts and feedback. We aim to meet at least once each half term. In the future, it may be useful to work in our key stage teams to share what we are working on and what impact the GTT module is having in our classrooms. As we are in the early stages of the module, this may be something which we do in Spring 1.

We are a large 11-18, comprehensive secondary school with approx. 1300 students, 80 teachers and 30 teaching assistants.

We have a strong common culture and language in school, including established whole school practices and phrases to help students feel consistency as they move between 60 different lessons in a fortnight. Our Teaching and Learning policy is well established, evidence-informed and stable with regular consultation amongst staff to keep it relevant. We have a well planned annual CPD programme that is high frequency (weekly except parents evening weeks). We have used this to bring all staff and departments to an agreed standard way of working.

We are now really interested in the power of GTT to help empower staff to take control of their own professional development and to do this with autonomy and over time.

We are trialling GTT with a small group of Lead Teachers and SLT. This group also work closely with Heads of Department on Teaching and Learning. We have chosen dimension 4.2 as we feel that succinct and memorable explanation is at the core of teaching in any school, but especially a secondary school where any teacher can teach 180 students in a day and a student may have 15 different teachers in a fortnight, but 6 different teachers in one day. Amidst that pace and variety, we feel solid explanation is an essential foundation that everyone can improve upon. Our Heads of Department have this drop-in focus for the next half-term, so we can triangulate what we are learning through GTT with what they are seeing on the ground and then shape the right way forward.

We are excited about the tools GTT can offer in helping us to understand where we can improve.

·         No hands up

·         Think-pair-share

·         Cold-calling

·         Say it again better

·         Lesson ppts all start with previous learning and recall/retrieval questions.

·         We have end of unit quizzes and half termly learning quizzes that revisit learning from all subject areas over the half term – these are house quizzes (fun and collaborative).

Following from the work we completed last year which focused on formative assessment approaches, retrieval and recall, we are continuing to develop and embed thinking skills linked to assessment across school. To further support this we will be working on dimension 4 Activating Hard Thinking: element 3: Questioning.

This year, we are embedding the range of metacognitive strategies introduced through last year’s whole-staff CPD. Staff have explored key GTT principles, including how learning happens, the role of revisiting and recalling in strengthening memory, and how to support working memory through dual coding and clear presentation of information. Training has also focused on reducing cognitive overload, modelling thinking through think-aloud strategies, and improving questioning techniques using a reflective self-appraisal tool. These strategies are now being woven into everyday classroom practice to support deeper, more independent learning.

This year, our whole-school focus is on strengthening teaching and learning through the Great Teaching Toolkit (GTT), with a clear emphasis on assessment and writing. Our aim is to embed evidence-informed strategies (especially formative) that support pupils to recall prior learning, apply knowledge with increasing accuracy and improve outcomes across the curriculum.

Whole-Staff CPD & Shared Understanding
We began the year with whole-staff CPD to build a shared approach to using recall and retrieval strategies. This included practical examples of how recall routines can improve long-term memory and support stronger writing outcomes through improved retention of vocabulary, grammar concepts, and prior content.

Staff are now trialling recall strategies in lessons, and early indications show increased pupil confidence when revisiting previous learning.

All class teachers have used the student surveys to gain feedback from the children in regards to dimension 3. We then decided as a staff, we would all focus on the same area. We thought as a small teaching staff this would be the best way to share ideas and resources.

Our SLT carried out learning walks linked to our area of focus. They did this before we did the GTT learning and after. We then shared areas of development and looked at ways we could improve our practice.

From this, we developed behaviour scripts linked to our school behaviour policy as well as scripts to help support challenging behaviour. Alongside this, myself and members of the SLT took part in some positive regard training, this was then rolled out to whole staff during INSET.

This will be our second full year of using the GTT. We have dedicated staff meeting time to meet and reflect on learning from the previous week. By doing this, we have found consistency throughout the school, this is particularly useful as staff move around to teach their subjects.

As a school, we began working on Dimension 3 after Christmas. We were aware that there were different expectations in different classrooms and this made things difficult for children as they moved through the school.

We have a small group of children in school whose behaviour is very challenging and we needed to ensure that we were doing everything possible to ensure that these children were learning, but also that their behaviour didn't impact the learning of other children in school.

We are also aware of other children who are present in the classroom, but don't engage with learning. They sit quietly, but are passive and want to be spoon-fed.

This term, we have tackled the school's behaviour policy. The teaching staff reviewed the policy, making it clearer. This has then been shared with the whole staff for discussions, and amendments have been made so that everyone in school knows what is expected and the sanctions we may use. This includes appropriate accommodations for children with SEMH issues, which need to be managed. This has been a real sticking point with some differently. Our 3 school rules have been revisited and made visible in every classroom and are referred to in celebration assemblies at the end of the week.

In my previous school I was cluster lead for Westmorland and Furness pilot project into GTT. We also focussed on dimension 4 and saw a really impact on the quality of teaching and learning as a result of our work.

This is our third school year using the Great Teaching Toolkit and it remains a high priority within our school. We dedicate weekly staff meeting time to engage with elements of the unit, followed by collaborative reflection the following week. This structured approach provides high-quality CPD that has had a significant positive impact on both staff and pupils.

Children complete a survey at the start of the process and from this feedback, we identify which dimension should be our priority. As part of SLT monitoring, we conduct learning walks at the beginning and end of each unit to evaluate the impact of CPD in the classroom.

We are proud to be working with WELL and continuing to embed GTT in our practice. For us, it represents a mindset shift, a powerful resource that empowers staff to take ownership of their professional development.

Initially, we adapted our lesson observation proforma to include the toolkit and observed teachers using this. From this feedback, actions were then created with the teacher that linked to an element of the toolkit. I then created small GTT teams that linked to each teacher’s action.

These teams include:

1 group of 4 teachers focusing on Element 2 Creating a supportive environment (2.4 linked to high expectations and challenge)

1 group of 3 teachers focusing on Element 3 Maximising opportunities to learn

3 groups of 4-5 teachers focusing on Element 4.1 Structuring

1 group of 3 teachers focusing on Element 4.2 Explaining

1 groups of 2 teachers focusing on Element 4.4 Questioning

1 group of 3 teachers focusing on Element 4.6 Activating

Each group is led by a middle leader.

Teams have met six times since January 2025 during our allocated staff meeting time (1 hour). Initially the team worked together through the course content, allowing time to collaborate in discussions. I received feedback from ML in spring term that as the course content provided lots of mainstream examples, some colleagues were struggling with how this linked to us as a special school. From this, I created an impact form for colleagues to use in the session. They identified a precise action that linked back to their action from their lesson feedback, which then enabled them to reflect on how the course content links to their own classroom practice and the next steps of this.

This term we have observed teachers again, showing evidence of impact of the GTT with groups now including:

1 group of 3 teachers focusing on Dimension 2 Creating a supportive environment

2 groups of 4 teachers focusing on Dimension 3 Maximising opportunities to learn (linked to introducing continuous provision)

1 group of 6 teachers focusing on Dimension 4.1 Structuring

1 group of 5 teachers focusing on Dimension 4.2 Explaining

1 group of 2 teachers focusing on Dimension 4.3 Interacting

1 group of 3 teachers focusing on Element 4.4 Questioning

1 group of 3 teachers focusing on Element 4.6 Activating

Since September we have introduced weekly PD sessions for our support staff, identifying this as an area of need due to our growth. I mapped this out for the term, spending AT 1 on Maximising opportunities to learn and AT 2 on creating a supportive environment. An example of this overview includes:

What is GTT and Dimension 3

Focus: Introduction to the GTT and Dimension 3.

Routines (3.1)

Focus:  Establishing predictable routines (Visual Timetable/Lesson Signifiers)

Transitions (3.1)

Focus:  Managing Transitions Smoothly

Boundaries (3.2)

Focus: What are boundaries? ‘following through’

Disruptive incidents (3.3)

Focus: One voice/Adults being role models in the classroom

Disruptive incidents (3.3)

Focus: Regulation (sensory circuits)

Managing Time (3.1)

Focus:  Making the most of learning time, even in short bursts.

These sessions are 20 minutes, they provide colleagues with theory, how this applies to our school and an opportunity to reflect on their own practice and share with the group.

We are now in our second year of our implementation of GTT, focusing on element 4.2 Explaining. We used staff meeting time every 3 weeks to unpick new learning on the toolkit and set ambitious targets of how we could implement strategies into our teaching. Last year, we shone a spotlight on our retrieval practice and how we used this to identify prior learning and misconceptions. As a result, we have created a bank of 'retrieval' activities and now use retrieval practice at all points of the lesson, alongside thinking carefully about spaced practice to embed key learning.

We used Writing as a focus to think about effective strategies - something which we will continue to develop this year as we embed practice.

At the end of last year, all staff got their classes to complete pupil surveys. This provided validation that the areas of focus were having a great impact across our classrooms. We were then able to identify 3 main themes for development across our school to continue to focus on this year:

-Considering language choice when explaining something for the very first time.

-Consider the pace of explanations.

-Consider how pupils identify with 'challenge' and how we can re-shape ideas of failure when they don't succeed immediately.

This year, 3 working parties will work on these and come together as a full staff team termly.

We are also using CPD time to begin our 4.3 Questioning journey, working as a whole staff as we did last year. Feedback from staff was positive.

We have found the best way to get people invested and onboard, is to work together on units and take tome to discuss the lessons and learning from each session.

We are currently working on Dimension 3 - maximising opportunities to learn. This has been a real focus within school and has helped us review our school behaviour policy - looking at the learning from sessions 5, 6 and 7 especially. All teachers have been involved in the study of these lessons and then discussion has led to the updated behaviour policy which is now in place.

Because our decisions have been based on the research and a united approach, it feels like it has real purpose and everyone is on board.

As part of this we have developed a more consistent approach across the key stages and the school.

We have also had a lot of discussion about establishing rules and clear routines within the classroom. Again some consistency has been introduced across classes.

This will continue to be our focus for the rest of the year and forms part of our school development plan.