Why most September teaching and learning strategies have failed by now.

Hi, it’s me again with another slightly depressing and glib blog about why schools fail to develop staff.

Firstly, I want to quickly say that this is not about me claiming to be better than you. It’s more about me sharing what I have learnt from the mistakes I have made.

What I am trying to encourage is an increase in your level of awareness to a point where you can see whether the teaching in your team has or hasn’t moved forward. Confronting our confirmation bias is a must if we are to truly improve teaching.

If you are involved in developing teachers, as a school leader, or perhaps as a head of department or faculty, pause here and spend a few hours in the first week back going into lessons and really ask yourself this:

Was the strategy or technique I really wanted to embed in September actually embedded?

For it to be embedded, it needs to be used by nearly all staff accurately, most of the time, even when you are not in the room.

(Want to know if that’s happening? Simply leave the room before you think it might happen and linger by the doorway to listen.)

If that objective has been met, then feel free to stop reading, go and have a cup of tea, and give yourself a well‑deserved high five.

However, if it’s not quite there, or people are using it incorrectly, then the rest of the blog might be useful. I’m going to try to outline the most common mistakes I see, and hopefully share some quick wins for this term.

You had too many priorities

It’s understandable that you want to improve more than one thing at a time. Lots of things are important, and the prevailing habit of having three priorities is hard to resist. It’s better to aim for one and get it, rather than aim for three and get none.

The fix: Simple. Identify the one thing you really need and make it the summer term priority. Shelve the rest.

Your training was not extensive enough

So you had one priority at a time, but you moved on too early. Now, everyone who was working on it is being distracted by the new priority and things are slipping back. In my experience, training and practice need to last about twice as long as you think. Once you see it happening with regularity, don’t move on.

The fix: Run a session that begins with retrieval of the first priority—its purpose, key features, and common pitfalls. Then facilitate group discussion on how well it’s going, what the barriers are, and how to overcome them. Use this as a soft re‑launch, rather than just more training (see below).

You spent too long reminding and not enough time supporting diffusion

Lots of people focus on awareness and clarity when doing training. Regular briefings and reminders are useful, but awareness is rarely the barrier—adoption is. New strategies have to overcome resistance to change and deeply ingrained habits. Increasing awareness without increasing adoption actually undermines your goals.

The fix: See above, but also include time to platform teachers who have been early adopters. Send as broad a message of “everyone else is doing this” as possible.

Your initial training was poor

Maybe the initial input with the team was weak. Was it a third‑party PowerPoint? Did it clearly outline the strategy with examples and non‑examples? Was there time for practice, scenarios, or co‑planning? And was there a commitment to ensure that the very next lesson could be implemented easily?

The fix: It’s time to plan a new session. This list might help.

Your lesson visits are weak

Lesson visits or drop‑ins are a crucial way of getting teachers to focus on a particular technique. Without them, it’s hard to keep things live, ensure teachers receive the bespoke feedback they need, and maintain momentum. Often, we delegate this responsibility to increase capacity—but when we do, there’s a risk that those performing the role are unequipped to provide what’s needed.

The fix: This is harder. Training middle and senior leaders in how to observe lessons and provide effective feedback is time‑intensive but hugely powerful. If you currently rely on peer coaching, it’s probably worth reconsidering. Training all staff to become effective lesson observers is borderline impossible. Need help? Let me know

So that’s my take.

If you want some help, just get in touch via the website or social media.