St John’s CE Academy
Teaching & Learning
At St John’s, teaching and learning is built around a simple, consistent and evidence-informed cycle:
Prepare → Teach ↔ Check ↔ Practise → Secure → Extend → Apply
This cycle is continuous and responsive rather than linear. Teachers move fluidly between stages, particularly the Teach ↔ Check ↔ Practise phases, adapting in real time to the needs of individuals and groups so understanding is secured over time.
This approach is applied across all phases of the school, from the earliest years through to Key Stage 4, with implementation adapted in age-appropriate ways to reflect pupils’ developmental stage, curriculum needs and increasing independence.
The indicators that follow represent the core priorities we encourage teachers to focus on across the school. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of effective practice, but a shared foundation that helps create consistency, clarity and excellence for all pupils.
This same model also shapes our professional development. We believe great teaching grows through shared learning, collaboration and reflective improvement. Our CPD is therefore organised across three connected domains:
All Staff CPD: Whole-school professional development secures shared expectations, common language and consistent practice. These priorities are revisited regularly through INSET, staff meetings and follow-up support throughout the year.
Faculty or Phase CPD: Team-based development strengthens subject, phase and leadership expertise. It enables colleagues to refine practice, respond to context and align improvements with whole-school priorities.
Individual CPD: Personalised development supports colleagues to refine and embed aspects of their practice, with individual responsibility for reflection, growth and sustained impact.
Prepare
1. Habits of Success
We establish a calm, high-expectation environment through a shared core language and explicitly taught routines that create predictability for all pupils. We maintain high expectations for all pupils and use praise and correction to reinforce expectations and normalise positive behaviour. Warmth and consistency is evident across classrooms, building a strong sense of belonging so pupils feel safe, motivated, and supported to meet sustained high standards over time.
Examples of Best Practice
- Teacher uses SJO 'core language’ and habits to maximise learning time and reinforce norms
- Teacher uses praise to reinforce positive behaviour and effort
- Expectations are reinforced clearly and consistently so learning time is protected.
- Teacher models warmth and enthusiasm and narrates a strong sense of team and shared purpose.
2. Purpose & Structure
We deliver a well-sequenced, coherent curriculum underpinned by clear disciplinary rationale and shared big ideas. Each curriculum is structured around clear end points and secures progression from ages 2–16. A robust approach to curriculum planning ensures teachers have clarity about what, when, and how to teach. It is rigorous, carefully resourced, and evidence‑informed, with the curriculum implemented consistently to ensure coherence across subjects and phases.
Examples of Best Practice
- Lesson is organised and resourced so learning begins immediately
- Teacher clearly communicates the purpose of learning and activities
- Teacher links learning to prior and future learning
- Lessons follow a clear and predictable flow
3. Priority Students
Teaching anticipates diverse needs so all pupils can access the curriculum and participate fully in learning. Teachers demonstrate a strong understanding of their pupils and ensure foundational gaps are identified and addressed. Where further support is needed, teachers adapt promptly and proportionately so barriers are removed quickly and small gaps do not become long-term obstacles. This approach supports all pupils and has an especially transformational impact on our most vulnerable pupils.
Examples of Best Practice
- Teacher demonstrates awareness of priority pupils and their needs
- Teacher plans and resources learning so all pupils can access the curriculum
- Priority pupils participate fully in questioning and independent practice
- Teacher adapts promptly to remove barriers so priority pupils remain engaged and successful
4. Reducing Cognitive Load
We reduce cognitive load through shared habits for learning, a predictable lesson flow, carefully designed resources (Unit Booklets), and a deliberate focus on essential content. Pre‑requisite knowledge is checked and each booklet is designed with the needs of our most vulnerable learners in mind. This approach enables the rapid and secure development of knowledge across the classroom and ensures all pupils can access the curriculum confidently.
Examples of Best Practice
- Key knowledge and the learning focus is clearly identifiable
- Learning is broken down and sequenced into small, manageable steps
- Learning is planned to secure understanding before increasing complexity
- Live modelling (e.g. via visualiser) and worked examples are used to support understanding
Teach
5. Explicit Instruction
We embed explicit instruction that prioritises core knowledge, underpinned by strong subject and phase expertise. Teachers make high-quality decisions about how to model learning, using live modelling through a visualiser, on the board, or in practical contexts. Learning is broken into small steps before being built back to the whole. Misconceptions are anticipated and explicitly taught so pupils build secure foundations in all subject areas.
Examples of Best Practice
- Teacher secures full attention before addressing the class and checks for listening
- Teacher checks prerequisite knowledge before introducing new learning
- Teacher provides clear, concise explanations, broken up by questioning to check meaning and understanding
- Teacher models learning clearly before pupils practise
6. Literacy & Communication
We prioritise literacy so all pupils can read, write, and access the curriculum with confidence. Early reading is a priority, taught through systematic synthetic phonics, alongside structured support that secures fluent reading, spelling, handwriting. Subject vocabulary and purposeful classroom dialogue ensure foundational knowledge is secured, with language gaps closing quickly over time.
Examples of Best Practice
- Teacher explicitly teaches and reinforces key vocabulary
- Teacher uses structured talk routines to promote oracy and participation
- Teachers promote full-sentence responses using appropriate academic language
- Phonics, reading and writing are explicitly taught and modelled appropriate to the phase
Check
7. Checking & Adapting
We strengthen learning through highly responsive teaching and systematic checks for understanding so pupils are ready for independent practice. Teaching is continually adapted in response, ensuring barriers are addressed swiftly and effectively. Teachers use questioning, circulation and feedback so formative assessment is used well and gaps are closed rapidly.
Examples of Best Practice
- Teacher uses a range of strategies to check understanding across the class (not just volunteers)
- Teacher pre-empts, identifies and addresses misconceptions, then re-teaches where needed
- Teacher circulates, monitors pupil work, and identifies errors or gaps quickly
- Teacher adapts explanations and support in response to pupil need
Practice
8. Practice & Transfer
We secure learning through deliberate independent practice and varied application, enabling rapid and secure knowledge development over time. Knowledge and skills are secured through spaced retrieval, feedback and carefully balanced levels of challenge. Pupils apply learning confidently across contexts, producing high-quality work across the curriculum. Homework is used purposefully to reinforce, practise, and extend learning beyond the classroom.
Examples of Best Practice
- Teacher moves from modelling to guided practice before independent work.
- Teacher gradually removes scaffolds to promote independence
- Pupils complete sufficient practice to a high success rate before increasing challenge
- Homework prioritises retrieval and deliberate practice, aligned to taught curriculum content
Secure
9. Assessment & Feedback
Summative assessment provides valid and reliable evidence of what pupils know, understand, and can do in relation to the intended curriculum. It is used diagnostically to identify strengths and specific gaps, drawing on both quantitative outcomes and qualitative evidence. This information is used promptly to inform curriculum adaptation, targeted re-teaching, and appropriate support, ensuring gaps are addressed and learning is secured before moving on.
Examples of Best Practice
- Assessment reflects the taught curriculum and intended outcomes
- Teacher provides precise, actionable feedback
- Pupils are given time to respond to feedback and improve
- Teacher uses assessment to adapt teaching and address gaps
Extend
10. Stretch & Challenge
We maintain high expectations and appropriate challenge for all, ensuring every pupil thinks deeply and experiences success. Ambitious challenge is established from the outset, with scaffolding used to secure access without lowering ambition, so that all learners can engage with demanding content. Excellence is explicitly modelled, and pupils are supported to reflect on, refine, and extend their understanding over time, enabling them to secure, extend, and apply their learning and achieve sustained academic success.
Examples of Best Practice
- Tasks have a clear purpose and avoid low‑value activities (e.g. copying out).
- Pupils are required to explain, justify and connect their thinking
- Success criteria or examples of excellent work are made clear to pupils.
- Pupils apply learning in new, extended or unfamiliar contexts
Apply
11. Real-World Application
We embed careers learning across the curriculum so pupils understand the purpose and relevance of what they learn. Knowledge and skills are explicitly connected to future pathways, and teaching makes transferable skills clear, ensuring readiness for further education, employment, and training. Pupils apply knowledge in unfamiliar contexts, strengthening critical thinking, reasoning and problem-solving, so they are exceptionally well prepared for their next steps and future learning.
Examples of Best Practice
- Where appropriate, learning is framed within meaningful real-world contexts
- Teachers highlight how knowledge is used beyond the classroom
- Teachers draw attention to how learning develops transferable skills
- Learning connects to wider life, careers and future pathways
12. Christian Ethos
Teaching fosters spiritual, moral and personal development by helping pupils explore questions of meaning, purpose and identity within their learning. Through thoughtful teaching, pupils encounter a range of perspectives, cultures and beliefs, developing understanding of both their own worldview and those of others. This approach encourages reflection, empathy and responsibility, supporting pupils to consider how their learning connects to service, contribution and life beyond the classroom.
Examples of Best Practice
- Where appropriate, learning is linked to the school’s Christian vision and values
- Opportunities are provided for stillness, reflection or meaning, purpose or impact
- Learning draws on diverse perspectives while deepening understanding of our own beliefs and values.
- Pupils consider responsibility, service and contribution to others