As a primary foundation subject leader, it can be helpful to reflect on how confidently you can say that high-quality (deep, rich and connected) learning is taking place in your subject. Typically, this will include exploring, through monitoring, how much of the intended curriculum your pupils know and can remember and then using that insight to guide your next steps.
Monitoring isn’t a one-off task or a tick-box exercise; it’s part of a continuous cycle of reflection, action, and improvement. However, if you are newer to teaching or leading a particular subject, it can be tricky to know where to start.
This blog introduces some of the key ideas behind monitoring as a cycle and is a practical overview to help you begin thinking about your role in leading learning.
Why might we monitor learning in our subjects?
Monitoring can help us to answer some important questions such as these.
- Is the curriculum being followed and implemented effectively?
- Are pupils learning what we intended?
- Are recent changes/improvements having the desired impact?
- What do pupils know and remember?
If you have recently taken on a new subject, it might be helpful to begin with some simple ‘audit’ monitoring tasks, to help you get to know your subject.
This initial step helps you prioritise and ensures that any goals you set are grounded in evidence, not assumptions.
Creating goals based on evidence
Once you’ve gathered information, the next step is to define your goals. These should be:
- focused: choose one or two priorities at a time
- evidence-informed: based on what you’ve seen, heard, or read
- linked to curriculum intent: aligned with what pupils should be learning.
For example, if pupils struggle to recall prior learning, and you had reassured yourself that the content had indeed been taught, your goal might be to improve retrieval looking at ways and opportunities to do this.
Here are some examples of goals that a subject leader might consider:
- To improve vocabulary learning and use across the subject – so that pupils can explain their learning using the appropriate terminology.
- To develop children’s retention of key learning over time – through emphasising key learning at the point of teaching, ensuring learning tasks focus on the key learning and that retrieval opportunities also allow children to recall the key learning.
- To improve provision and access for all pupils in the subject, including pupils with SEND, using adaptive teaching techniques – so that all pupils can access, achieve and retain the key learning.
From goal to action
Once your goal is clear, break it down.
- What actions will help achieve it?
- Who needs to be involved?
- What support or CPD might be needed?
- How will you monitor progress towards your identified goal?
- What does success look like?
While subject leaders may not be ‘required’ by any outside body to have an action plan, having one can be incredibly helpful. It acts as a working document to track your goals, actions, and progress. It keeps your work focused and strategic. The example below may be of use as a starting point. In this example the monitoring and evaluation is to explore how well the actions being taken are helping us to achieve the objectives set.
Monitoring tools should be selected based on:
• the goal you’re working towards
• the actions you’ve taken and where evidence/impact will be best seen
• the evidence you need to gather.
This image above shows some of the monitoring tools available to us as subject leaders. Each tool offers a different perspective and will give you valuable pieces of information. Over time, together, they will reveal the bigger picture of your subject at your school.
Giving feedback and continuing the cycle
Feedback is a key part of the cycle. It should be:
• timely and focused
• based on the facts of your findings and original goal
• supportive and actionable.
Importantly, feedback often reveals new areas to explore. Exploring the results of your monitoring with one or more colleagues might raise questions like:
• Why is this strategy working well in one year group but not another?
• What’s preventing pupils from retaining key knowledge?
• How can we better support learners with SEND?
These insights lead to new goals—and so the cycle continues.
Monitoring is not about catching people out. It’s about understanding what’s happening, supporting improvement, and ensuring pupils get the best possible learning experience in your subject.
As the EEF reminds us, “Implementation is not an event—it’s a process.” So, take your time, be strategic, and remember: every small step you take contributes to a stronger, more coherent curriculum and learning experience for your pupils.
If you would like support with any aspect of leading a foundation subject, contact Claire.watson@hfleducation.org or ben.fuller@hfleducation.org
Further reading and training
EEF: A School’s Guide to Implementation
Ofsted: Inspecting the Curriculum
Subject leaders: Assessing learning and monitoring progress in foundation subjects
Claire Watson
