NPQLT Leading teaching
Practice Activities
Select three of the following nine activities to submit to your leadership mentor.
Choose an activity based on your areas of interest and the results of the initial needs analysis undertaken at the start of the course.
Classroom practice
Activity 1: Selecting examples of the components of effective lessons
Leaders of teaching need a rich bank of examples of the components of effective lessons (e.g. explanations, modelling, practice and questioning).
Read section 2 of dimension 4 of The Great Teaching Toolkit (Activating hard thinking) and Rosenshine's, Principles of instruction, paying attention to the guidance on the use of explanations, modelling, practice and questioning.
Meet with one or more colleagues to collect and evaluate three examples of the effective use of one of the following components of effective lessons:
o explanations
o modelling
o practice
o questioning
The examples may be in a variety of formats, for example; session or sequence plans, lesson resources, video recordings of classroom practice, observation forms, photos, teacher reflections or case studies.
Why have you chosen each of the examples?
How do they exemplify effective practice? You may find it useful to refer to Rosenshine's and Coe et al.'s guidance on the components of effective teaching.
How could the examples be used in your context?
Draft guidance, questions and discussion prompts to accompany your examples.
Submission
Write a 250 words (maximum) summary of your actions and learning from this task and submit to your leadership mentor.
Resources
Coe, R., Rauch, C. J., Kime, S., & Singleton, D. (2019). Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence Review. Evidence Based Education.
Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of Instruction: Research-based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 36, 12–20.
Activity 2: Providing feedback on modelling and the use of examples
Task
Read section 2 of dimension 4 of The Great Teaching Toolkit (Activating hard thinking) and Rosenshine's, Principles of instruction, paying attention to the guidance on the use of explanations and modelling.
Arrange to observe a colleague's use of explanation and modelling.
Make a note of their explanation and modelling strategies:
inclusion of concrete representation of abstract ideas, for example the use of metaphor
narrating thought processes
establishing links with prior knowledge
making information memorable, for example, naming steps in a process or the use of mnemonics
Feedback your observations to your colleague, highlighting the importance of:
providing explanations that start at the point of current pupil understanding
including concrete representation of abstract concepts
starting explanations at the point of pupil understanding
narrating thought processes to make it clear how an expert might think when completing the task
drawing pupils’ attention to links with prior knowledge
making the steps in a process memorable to ensure pupils can recall them
Submission
Write a 250 words (maximum) summary of your actions and learning from this task and submit to your leadership mentor.
Resources
Coe, R., Rauch, C. J., Kime, S., & Singleton, D. (2019). Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence Review. Evidence Based Education.
Rosenshine, B. (2012). Principles of Instruction: Research-based strategies that all teachers should know. American Educator, 36, 12–20.
Activity 3: Supporting effective collaborative or paired work
Task
Support a colleague to plan for effective collaborative or paired work by asking the following questions:
What is their rationale for choosing a collaborative approach for this task?
How do they plan to communicate success criteria clearly?
What guidance will they provide on how to work together effectively?
How will they scaffold the collaborative task?
What models and examples will support the task?
How will they ensure pupils have the necessary prior knowledge?
How will the pupils be grouped?
Why have they chosen to group the pupils in this way and how could it impact on the success of the collaborative activity?
Support your colleague to refine their plans for collaborative or paired work informed by their response to your questions.
Submission
Write a 250 words (maximum) summary of your actions and learning from this task and submit to your leadership mentor.
Adaptive teaching
Activity 4: Supporting the effective use of teaching assistants
Task
Read the Education Endowment Foundation's guidance on the use of teaching assistants, paying attention to the recommendations.
Share these recommendations with a teacher and teaching assistant at your school and meet to discuss their implications.
Recommendation 1 states that TAs should not be used as an informal teaching resource for lowattaining pupils as this risks separating pupils from their teacher and peers.
How do the TA and teacher divide up responsibilities for improving attainment?
Recommendation 2 states that TAs should add value to what teachers do, not replace them. Ask the teacher and TA to reflect on this.
What examples can they provide of how the TA adds value?
The guidance recommends that TAs deliver structured interventions.
How is the TA supported to deliver interventions, for example, through the provision of training, clear guidance or intervention frameworks?
How do the TA and teacher ensure that pupils understand how the learning that takes place in interventions links with their learning in the classroom?
With the TA and teacher identify 2 actions that they could take to increase the effectiveness of their work together.
Submission
Write a 250 words (maximum) summary of your actions and learning from this task and submit to your leadership mentor.
Resources
Education Endowment Foundation (2025) Deployment of Teaching Assistants
Activity 5: Accessing support when teaching children with special educational needs and disabilities
"In addition to good teaching for all pupils, some pupils will need specialist intervention, often delivered by a trained professional." (EEF, 2020)
Recommendation 4 of the Education Endowment Foundation's guidance on special educational needs in mainstream schools includes recommendations for accessing specialist support, giving the example of how teachers at one school worked effectively with an external speech therapist. In Lucy Lee's practice piece for the 'Adaptive teaching self-study pack', she explains how her school has adopted a team approach to supporting children who are not progressing as hoped. This team includes teachers, curriculum leads, the SENCo, senior leaders and specialists. Lucy highlights the importance of building a close relationships between staff members and the children and their families, and everyone else that inputs into their care and education, such as physios and speech and language therapists.
Task
Meet with a teacher and your school SENCo to reflect on the relationship between the teacher, SENCo, senior staff and specialists who support children with special educational needs and disabilities.
What systems are in place to facilitate their collaboration (for example planning and review meetings or team communications)?
How do teachers access support from the SENCo?
How is specialist support accessed?
How is a partnership between the teachers and the SENCo supported and promoted?
With your SENCO identify 2 actions for improving teachers' access to support when teaching children with special educational needs and disabilities.
Submission
Write a 250 words (maximum) summary of your actions and learning from this task and submit to your leadership mentor.
Resources
Education Endowment Foundation (2020) Special education in mainstream schools
Activity 6: Supporting the use of groups
Recommendation 4 of the Education Endowment Foundation's guidance on special educational needs in mainstream schools (2020) focuses on the use of small groups and one to one interventions. Recommendation 3 states that all pupils should have access to high quality education and highlights the negative impact of removing pupils from their classroom and their peers for interventions but explains that the effectiveness of small group interventions increases if three questions are considered to check the approach is appropriate for the context:
Is this the right intervention for the pupil?
Can we provide the support required for our staff to deliver the intervention well?
Are we able to dedicate the time and resources required to implement the intervention well?
(EEF, 2020)
Meet with a teacher and a TA or school SENCo to reflect on the following questions:
How should the school balance the use of an intervention with whole-class teaching?
How can we ensure that pupils with the greatest needs are supported by the most experienced teachers?
Are there situations in which interventions can be detrimental to pupils’ progress?
In light of your discussion, identify 2 actions to increase the effectiveness of small group interventions in your school.
Submission
Write a 250 words (maximum) summary of your actions and learning from this task and submit to your leadership mentor.
Resources
Education Endowment Foundation (2020) Special education in mainstream schools
Assessment
Activity 7: Selecting examples of effective assessment
The third element of dimension 4 of the Teaching Toolkit focuses on the use of questions to activate hard thinking and inform teaching.
Asking meaningful and appropriate questions that target essential learning, collecting and interpreting a response from every student, and responding to the results, all in real time in the flow of a lesson, is hard to do well, but great teachers do it and it is probably a skill that can be learnt.
(Coe et al., 2019)
To help teach this skill, leaders of teaching should develop a bank of examples of the effective use of questioning and formative assessment. The examples may be in a variety of formats, for example; session or sequence plans, lesson resources, video recordings of classroom practice, observation forms, teacher reflections or case studies.
Task
Read section 3 of dimension 4 of The Great Teaching Toolkit (Activating hard thinking).
Meet with one or more colleagues to collect and evaluate three examples of the effective use of questions to:
check for misconceptions
check that pupils are ready to move on
deepen learning and activate hard thinking
Why have you chosen each of the examples?
How do they exemplify effective formative assessment? You may find it useful to refer to the EEF guidance on diagnostic assessment (2020).
How could the examples be used in your context?
Draft guidance, questions and discussion prompts to accompany your examples.
Submission
Write a 250 words (maximum) summary of your actions and learning from this task and submit to your leadership mentor.
Resources
Coe, R., Rauch, C. J., Kime, S., & Singleton, D. (2019). Great teaching toolkit: Evidence review. Evidence Based Education.
Education Endowment Foundation (2020) Diagnostic assessment: Evidence insights
Activity 8: Quality assuring assessment resources
Teachers need to make decisions about why they are assessing, what to assess and how to assess, what evidence is needed and how will it inform teaching and support pupil learning? Using highquality centrally or externally created assessment resources helps teachers assess effectively without creating unnecessary workload.
Task
Meet with two colleagues to evaluate 2 examples of:
centrally created assessments
externally created assessment materials
The assessment resources may take various forms, for example, worksheets, feedback labels, peer assessment templates, activity packs, entry and exit tickets, exam papers, traffic light cards, assessment for learning (AFL) resources, self-assessment sheets.
Ask your colleagues the following questions:
What is the purpose of the assessment?
What is your rationale for choosing these assessment resources?
How are the resources used?
What evidence do you have of the resources' effectiveness (for example, recommendation from staff, data from research projects or implementation in other schools)?
How have you quality-assured these assessment resources (for example, internal review, moderation)?
How will you evaluate the effectiveness of the assessment resources in achieving their intended purpose (for example, monitoring implementation, pupil progress data)?
Work with your colleagues to refine the resources and their deployment in light of the discussion.
Submission
Write a 250 words (maximum) summary of your actions and learning from this task and submit to your leadership mentor.
Activity 9: Supporting the use of effective feedback
Task
Read the EEF guidance (2021) on teacher feedback and the content of effective feedback.
Observe a colleague's use of feedback and marking.
How could the opportunity cost of marking be reduced (for example, by using abbreviations and codes in written feedback)?
How effectively does the feedback move pupil learning forward (for example by informing pupils where they are now and what the need to do next to progress)?
How could the focus of the feedback be refined to ensure misunderstandings are prioritised rather than careless mistakes?
You might find it useful to share the EEF guidance on effective feedback in the classroom (2021), with your colleague.
Submission
Write a 250 words (maximum) summary of your actions and learning from this task and submit to your leadership mentor.
Resources
EEF (2021) Teacher feedback to improve pupil learning
EEF (2021)What might the content of effective feedback look like in the classroom?