Primary pedagogy: A 'Walkthru' to teaching excellence

Great pedagogy is about more than just delivering lessons, it’s about sparking curiosity, deepening understanding, and giving pupils the skills they need to succeed. Across our primary academies, we focus on evidence-based strategies that ensure every child is engaged and supported in their learning journey. 

But what does this look like in practice? At Harris Primary Academy Shortlands (HPAS), this commitment has led to the development of HPAS Pedagogy – a framework shaped by ‘Teaching Walkthrus’, designed to embed high-impact teaching strategies and influence a culture of continuous growth amongst the staff at HPAS.

 

Understanding 'Teaching WalkThrus'

'Teaching WalkThrus' is an innovative professional development toolkit designed to support educators in refining their instructional techniques. At its core are 150 evidence-based teaching strategies, each distilled into five clear steps, making complex pedagogical concepts accessible and actionable. These strategies are organised into six series: behaviour and relationships, curriculum planning, explaining and modelling, questioning and feedback, practice and retrieval, and Mode B teaching. This modular design allows teachers to connect techniques in various combinations, tailoring their approach to specific classroom contexts. ​

The visual nature of 'Teaching WalkThrus' ensures that educators can quickly grasp and implement new strategies, creating a shared language and understanding of effective teaching practices within the school community. This shared framework is crucial for collaborative professional development, enabling teachers to support each other’s growth and maintain a consistent approach to instruction. 

 

Implementing HPAS Pedagogy

Building upon the 'Teaching WalkThrus' framework, HPAS Pedagogy focuses on six key areas, selected by HPAS staff, each serving as a half-termly focus:​

1. Understand and respond to silent signals

• Silent stop signal: a non-verbal cue to gain students' attention without disrupting the flow of the lesson
• Silent 1, 2, 3 transition: a silent countdown technique to facilitate smooth transitions between activities
• Respond to TTYP (talk to your partner) signal: encourages structured peer discussions, enhancing collaborative learning
• Silent transitions: minimises noise during movement, maintaining a focused learning environment

2. Recall prior learning

• Complete knowing more, remembering more: activities designed to reinforce previously learned material
• Recap slides at the start of lessons: visual summaries to refresh students' memory of prior content
• Explicit links to previous learning: connecting new information to existing knowledge to deepen understanding
• Learning environment as a scaffold: classroom displays that reflect current learning sequences, acting as an additional support for students

3. Ensure all are ready to share their thinking

• No hands up: promotes equal participation by selecting students to answer rather than relying on volunteers
• Cold calling: randomly choosing students to answer questions, ensuring readiness and engagement
• 'Bounce to a classmate' or 'phone a friend': encourages peer support and collaborative problem-solving
• Thinking time: allowing pauses after questions to give students time to formulate their responses

4. Work collaboratively

• Clear roles for partner tasks: assigning specific responsibilities to each student to ensure effective collaboration
• Modelling active talk and listening: demonstrating effective communication skills during partner work
• Use of sentence stems: providing scaffolds to develop oracy and support structured partner discussions

5. Know what success looks like

• Gradual release model: transitioning from teacher-led instruction to independent student work
• Scaffolds and challenges: providing appropriate support and extension tasks to cater to all learners
• Use of success critieria and high-quality modelling: clearly defining expectations and demonstrating desired outcomes

6. Have their learning checked along the way

• Hinge questions: critical questions that assess understanding at pivotal points in the lesson
• Use of mini whiteboards: allows for immediate formative assessment of student responses
• Self-assessment and live marking: encourages students to reflect on their work, with immediate feedback provided during the lesson
• Learning checkpoints: regular intervals to assess and reinforce understanding throughout the learning process

 

Professional development structure

To effectively embed these practices, HPAS schedules two staff meetings each half term, aligning with the half-termly focus areas:​

• Initial meeting: introduces the theoretical underpinnings and practical guides from 'Teaching WalkThrus' related to the current focus area. This session provides teachers with the necessary knowledge and resources to implement new strategies effectively. We also link the focus to SEND, EYFS and Teaching Assistant Roles
• Mid/end point review: offers an opportunity for deliberate practice, reflection, and sharing of experiences. Teachers discuss successes, challenges, and insights gained from implementing the strategies, fostering a collaborative learning environment

This structured approach ensures that all teachers, regardless of their experience level, have the support and guidance needed to enhance their teaching practices continually. During the half term, we will conduct either a learning walk or formal observation depending on the stage of the cycle. For this, we adapted our formal observation template to include elements that can be checked off when seen in an observation. Both SLT and staff know that this is not a ‘bingo’ session where they need to ensure they have everything all in one lesson but merely a marker to ensure that we are seeing some of these elements in a lesson. 

 

Impact on the Harris Federation community

The implementation of HPAS Pedagogy, grounded in 'Teaching WalkThrus', has led to a more cohesive and effective teaching approach within the academy. By focusing on specific, evidence-based strategies, teachers have observed improvements in student engagement, collaboration, and overall academic performance.​

Moreover, this framework has facilitated a shared language and understanding among staff, promoting consistency in instructional methods across different year groups and subjects. As members of the Harris Federation, the leaders at HPAS believe that sharing their journey with HPAS Pedagogy can provide valuable insights for both primary and secondary colleagues, inspiring further collaboration and innovation in teaching practices across the Federation.​

In conclusion, the integration of 'Teaching WalkThrus' into our professional development has been instrumental in shaping the HPAS Pedagogy. This approach not only enhances individual teaching practices but also contributes to a culture of continuous improvement and excellence within the academy community. 

A huge thank you to Jordan Hollis (Head of Academy at HPAS), Deb Hasim-Hayes (VP at HPAS) and Danielle England (AP & English Lead at HPAS) who have developed and driven the success of this initiative and shared it with us.