News

Instructional coaching has become an increasingly popular approach to teacher professional development. Rather than relying on occasional training days or generic CPD sessions, coaching offers teachers the opportunity to reflect on their classroom practice, receive focused feedback and make small, manageable improvements.

Yet many schools discover that establishing a coaching programme is considerably easier than keeping it going.

The challenge is rarely a lack of enthusiasm. More often, it’s finding the time, resources and expertise to make coaching a consistent part of school life.

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Ask a group of adults about their school days and there’s a good chance they’ll remember a school trip. Perhaps it was a visit to a museum, a residential adventure or a history excursion abroad. The details of everyday lessons may have faded, but those experiences often remain remarkably clear.

For secondary school pupils, educational visits offer opportunities that extend far beyond the curriculum. Yet with stretched budgets, increasing workloads and growing pressure on schools, organising them can feel harder than ever.

So, are school trips still worth the effort?

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Moving into sixth form or further education brings a subtle but important change for students. After years of being told what to learn, when to revise and often how to approach a task, young people are suddenly expected to take far greater responsibility for themselves.

We tell students to revise effectively, organise their workload and become independent learners. The problem is that we sometimes assume they already know how.

This is where metacognition in post-16 education becomes particularly valuable.

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Adaptive teaching has become one of the most talked-about approaches in education. For many teachers, however, it is hardly a revolutionary idea. Good teachers have always adjusted explanations, changed their questioning or offered additional support when a pupil is struggling.

So why has adaptive teaching suddenly become such a priority?

Perhaps the answer lies less in changing teaching methods and more in the growing pressures surrounding SEND provision in mainstream schools.

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Improving school attendance remains one of the biggest challenges facing schools across England. Although national attendance figures have improved since the pandemic, persistent absence continues to affect thousands of pupils and has a direct impact on learning, well-being, and future outcomes.

For school leaders, the question is becoming less about how do we improve attendance statistics? and more about what prevents some pupils from attending in the first place?

At Strategy Education, we work with schools across the UK and understand that poor attendance is rarely caused by a single issue. Family circumstances, mental health, SEND, anxiety and a pupil’s sense of belonging can all influence whether they feel able to come to school each day.

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The debate around smartphones in schools has intensified as the Government moves to make schools phone-free from June 2026 (DfE). At the same time, ministers are reportedly considering further measures that could restrict smartphone ownership for under-16s, following the lead of countries such as Australia.

Supporters believe these changes will improve behaviour, reduce distractions and help protect young people’s mental health. However, others argue that while limiting smartphone use during the school day may bring benefits, schools also have a responsibility to teach pupils how to use technology safely and responsibly.

At Strategy Education, we believe both perspectives raise important questions about how schools can best prepare young people for the future.

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Work scrutiny has long been a feature of school improvement. Whether it’s called a book look, work sampling exercise or learning review, the principle is the same: looking at pupils’ work to understand what is really happening in classrooms.

Done well, work scrutiny can provide valuable insights into curriculum delivery, pupil progress and teaching effectiveness. Done poorly, it can become little more than a search for neat presentation or evidence of compliance.

At Strategy Education, we work with schools across the country and regularly hear leaders discussing how to gather meaningful evidence without creating unnecessary workload. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by rethinking what work scrutiny is actually trying to achieve.

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When schools look to improve outcomes, it’s tempting to focus on major initiatives, new programmes or whole-school reforms. Yet some of the most meaningful improvements in teaching come from much smaller changes, such as the everyday decisions teachers make dozens of times during a lesson.

From how we ask questions to how we respond to mistakes, these seemingly minor interactions can shape student confidence, participation and learning far more than we sometimes realise.

At Strategy Education, we regularly work with schools focused on improving both outcomes and classroom culture. One of the most encouraging messages from recent educational research is that teachers do not always need to overhaul their practice. Sometimes, refining small habits can make a significant difference.

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Seeing School Through Different Eyes

Walk through any school and ask a simple question about behaviour, workload or wellbeing, and you’ll often hear very different answers depending on who you ask. A school leader may feel systems are working well. A classroom teacher may feel stretched and overwhelmed. A student may experience the same environment in a completely different way again.

None of those perspectives are necessarily wrong. They are shaped by experience, responsibility and daily reality. That’s why perspective matters so much in schools.

At Strategy Education, we work with teachers, leaders and support staff across a wide range of settings, and one thing becomes clear very quickly: schools function best when people actively try to understand experiences beyond their own role.

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What Actually Improves Engagement and Learning?

In many schools, student voice has become part of the furniture: suggestion boxes, school councils, and surveys are common. But how often do students feel genuinely heard? And more importantly, does traditional student voice actually lead to meaningful change in the classroom?

There’s a growing conversation about moving beyond simply listening to students and giving them real, structured choice in their learning and school experience. This shift from passive voice to active choice can boost motivation, strengthen relationships, and support better behaviour and outcomes, without undermining teacher authority or adding to workload.

For Early Career Teachers especially, finding the right balance here can make a big difference. Giving students appropriate agency helps reduce disengagement and low-level disruption, while still maintaining clear boundaries and high expectations.

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