Fieldwork is an essential component of a well-rounded primary geography education, offering unique learning opportunities often outside of the traditional classroom setting. It allows children to connect often abstract geographical concepts to real-world experiences, fostering a deeper understanding of their environment and the processes that shape it. Through active exploration and hands-on investigation, fieldwork cultivates critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and a sense of place. Moreover, these memorable experiences help to ‘inspire a curiosity and fascination about the world and its people’ (National curriculum 2014) creating a lasting impact that extends far beyond the immediate activity.

The recent Ofsted report, Getting our bearings: geography subject report 2023, highlighted that ‘fieldwork was underdeveloped in almost all schools…’ The report states that we should ensure we…

 ‘…teach pupils about fieldwork. Pupils should know how to collect, present and analyse data, and how to evaluate and reach conclusions based on this data. Some of this should include first-hand experience of collecting data.’ 

The Geographical Association also states that, ‘Fieldwork (whether local, residential or international) is an essential component of geography education. It enables pupils to better understand the ‘messiness’ of ‘geographical reality’, develop subject knowledge, and gain a range of skills that are difficult to develop in the classroom alone.’ 

Although fieldwork is clearly a recognised and vital component of a well-planned and balanced geography curriculum, the practicalities of implementation, including budgetary constraints and the necessary risk assessment procedures, often present significant challenges that may deter us from developing such opportunities.

So, how can we design and implement meaningful fieldwork experiences for our children that are budget friendly and not workload heavy, utilise geographical knowledge and bring to life the often-abstract concepts in the geographical curriculum?

This blog will aim to exemplify how we can use our school grounds and local area to plan meaningful fieldwork opportunities in the primary geography curriculum whilst ensuring that there is rigour and progression.

There are a few points to consider when we start planning fieldwork experiences in our curriculum. 

Progression

Firstly, children should become more proficient in fieldwork as they move through the school. They should make progress in how they carry out fieldwork. This means that the experiences should look different depending on the stage of development of the children.

The table below is an example of a progression map we have developed, for fieldwork opportunities. Using this, we can see that as children move through the curriculum they develop from experiential, play-based learning and enquiries towards suggesting their own appropriate and well thought out enquiry questions. They will also use a more complex range of fieldwork techniques and measurements and develop their recording and presenting skills.

Enquiry

Secondly, fieldwork should ideally be based around real life enquiry questions. Effective fieldwork requires thinking about what places are like. What are the features of this place? Why is this place like this? What could be done to improve this place? The school grounds and local area can provide endless opportunities to investigate issues and potential problems. Posing, investigating and answering real-life enquiry questions is inspiring for children and can help build a sense of self-efficacy, belonging and empowerment as they seek to explore and suggest solutions to local issues.

Knowledge

Lastly, fieldwork provides an invaluable opportunity for pupils to apply and expand upon classroom learning. Effective fieldwork experiences foster memorable, real-world learning activities that cultivate geographical knowledge crucial for understanding the processes shaping their environment. By engaging in the practice of ‘"doing geography’," fieldwork can transform abstract geographical concepts into concrete, active learning.

Whether you have written your own geography curriculum or adopted a published scheme, personalising it to your school and local area, including the fieldwork opportunities, will ensure learning is meaningful and serves your context and children.

Below are some ideas that utilise the school grounds and local area: -

EYFS Opportunities – play-based and exploratory

• Explore the sand, water and soil in trays and in real-life situations; build sandcastles and knock them down, observe what happens, mix water and soil to see what changes, to begin to understand some of the properties of the physical environment.
• Create a drawing of the EYFS area or garden, comment on the aspects liked/disliked. Suggest elements for improvement/change.
• Use a simple map to find objects in the EYFS area or garden.
• Go on a ‘favourite place walk’.’ Discuss sights, sounds, smells etc. take photos and make drawings.
• Observe and discuss the weather using simple charts and symbols.
• Observe and discuss the changing seasons – investigate how some trees change across the year. Make representations.
• Investigate the best place to plant flowers.

KS1 Opportunities

Weather:

• What is the weather like in our local area?
  • Keep a daily record of the weather using charts and symbols.
  • Use thermometers to measure temperature at various times of the year.
  • Use a simple rain gauge to measure rainfall at various times of the year.
  • Discuss patterns in weather, using information pupils have gathered.
  • Create and use a weather station with a thermometer, rain gauge and simple wind vane.

The school grounds:

• What is in the school grounds?
  • Create maps of the school grounds and mark features using a key.
  • Go on a sensory walk around the school. Mark on a map of the school the quiet and noisy areas, favourite areas. Take photos and sound recordings.
  • Create a nature trail around the school. Mark the physical features on a map. Undertake sampling at various locations to explore plants and animal habitats.
  • Identify issues in the school grounds – car parking, litter, not enough shade etc and investigate – take photos, create simple interviews, sketch etc.
• What might be the best place for – a new bin, a friendship bench, a picnic bench, a climbing frame? etc.
  • Using a map of the school grounds, plot the location of human features using symbols and a key.
  • Research the best place for a new XXX by observing classes at playtime, lunch time etc. Where is litter dropped? Where do children stand alone? Where do children want to sit?
  • Create and carry out a simple questionnaire. Collectively analyse results.

The local area:

• What is my local area like?
  • Go on a walk around the local area. Take photos, make sound recordings, make sketches.
  • Plot the street furniture on a simple map of the local area.
  • Find the busy/quiet places in the area. Are there any issues? Traffic? Litter? Plot these on the map.
  • Record favourite places in the local area and describe them, explaining reasons for likes and dislikes.
  • Investigate how the area has changed. Look at old photos and maps. Interview grandparents. Discuss what the future of the area may be.

KS2 Opportunities

The school grounds:

• How do people use the school grounds?
  • Conduct a land use survey of the school grounds, identifying and classifying different types of land use (e.g., recreational, educational, environmental).
  • Observe and record land use at contrasting times of the day.
  • Accessibility: Conduct an accessibility audit of the school grounds, considering access for people with disabilities, people using pushchairs, cyclists etc.. Discuss ways to improve accessibility.
• How are the school grounds different/similar to other local spaces?
  • Compare the buildings of the school to other buildings in the local area, e.g., materials, usage, purposes. How do they reflect the local community, and its needs?
  • Explore the variety of habitats in the school grounds, identifying different plants and animals and their adaptations to their environment.
• Are the school grounds environmentally friendly?
  • Conduct an environmental audit of the school grounds, assessing factors like litter, energy use, and water consumption. Discuss ways to improve the school's environmental impact.
  • Explore the concept of sustainability by investigating how the school grounds are managed. Survey the classrooms at break and lunch time – are windows open and heating on? Are electrical devices on? Is there a litter issue? Discuss ways to make the school more sustainable.
• Where is the best place for different features, e.g., a nature area, bug hotel, solar panel(s), pollinator garden?
• Investigate microclimates within the school grounds, measuring temperature, wind, and sunlight in different areas. Discuss how these variations affect plant growth and animal habitats.
• Sample soil using quadrats.
• Investigate air pollution using squares of card covered with petroleum jelly. Hang one inside and one outside to compare air quality.
• Investigate using maps, photos, sound recordings, questionnaires etc.

The local area:

• What is it like to live in the local area?
  • Investigate the different types of settlements in the local area, and how they are different? e.g., village, town, city.
  • Explore how land use in the local area has changed over time? Compare maps, interviewing relatives and local residents. Discuss positive and negative change. What might the future of the area be?
  • Explore where the key services are located in the local area, and why? Plot on maps of different scales. Consider land use. Who uses which services? Conduct a survey and analyse the results.
  • Compare the local area to other places studied. Look at land use, jobs and economy, types of buildings, features etc.
• Who lives in the local area, and what are their lives like?
  • Conduct research and surveys. Analyse demographics on various maps.
  • Research how people use the local area.
  • Explore how changes to the area may be linked to changing demographics. E.g., a new home for the elderly may be built due to an aging population. The school may expand due to more children being born etc.
• What is the high street like?
  • Use a map to identify the uses of buildings on the high street.
  • Survey resident’s’ opinions on the high street.
  • Investigate if local produce is sold. Debate pros and cons of importing food.
  • Explore how an empty shop could be used.
  • Investigate how and why the high street has changed over time.
  • Plot human and physical features on a map.
  • Plot street furniture and investigate where the bins, toilets, post-boxes are located etc.
  • Explore the environment of the high street – traffic pollution, air pollution, litter etc. Create a campaign based around findings.

Travel and traffic:

• How do people travel around our local area, and what are the impacts of different modes of transport?
  • Looking at road systems and local area traffic. Identifying issues. Exploring traffic at different times of the day. Creating and analysing surveys. Pollution statistics. Looking at the bus routes and timetables.
  • Investigate if local transport is suitable for the local needs?

Tourism:

• How does tourism affect the local area?
  • Using maps at different scales and OS symbols to identify tourist attractions.
  • Creating questionnaires to ascertain resident’s views on tourism.
  • Debate the pros and cons of tourism.

Rivers:

• How does the river change from its source to its mouth?
  • Sketch the local river at various points.
  • Plot the river on a map.
  • Take photos and annotate/caption points in the river, identifying the features of a river.
  • Measure the flow rate at different points. Measure a set distance and drop sticks into the river. Use a stopwatch to calculate the time it takes for the sticks to travel between points. Compare.
  • Measure the turbidity of water at different points using a secchi disk. Lower the disk into the water until the white and black areas can no longer be differentiated. Measure the wet string. Compare at different points. Does pollution affect the water?
• How do humans use the river, and what are the consequences?
  • Investigate through mapping the river, taking photos at various locations, researching river uses over time and/or interviewing a resident.
• What are the different types of plants and animals that live in and around the river, and why?
• Use sampling techniques, photos, sketches. Annotate photos and maps.
• Compare river wildlife with the plants and animals found in the school grounds.

There are many wonderful opportunities right on our doorsteps for meaningful fieldwork opportunities that enable children to ‘become geographers’. These experiences also connect children to their local area and offer a chance for them to become problem solvers

Key takes

1. Look for opportunities in your curriculum to utilise the school grounds and local area.
2. Ensure that children ‘get better’ at fieldwork over time. You may want to identify the progression in your current opportunities or develop a progression in fieldwork, like the one above, to help teachers plan.
3. Pose, and encourage children to pose, meaningful enquiry questions. Base the fieldwork around answering these questions.
4. Explore how to communicate and present findings (in an age-appropriate way), to answer the enquiry question(s).
5. Utilise and build on knowledge learned in the classroom when undertaking fieldwork.
6. Give it a go and have fun!

If you would like further support to audit your school’s curriculum and embed fieldwork, contact Claire at Claire.watson@hfleducation.org for support.

What is transient art?

Transient art is a term used for creative work that is not fixed. This is a type of art created using movable pieces, which can be easily changed, adapted, and added to, but most importantly is not permanent. This offers children the opportunity to focus on the process of the artwork, rather than the finished product itself. This encourages children to build skills such as choosing resources for a purpose, thinking critically, and understanding why they are making certain choices.

What are the benefits?

There are many advantages of transient art in the early years. It develops curiosity, imagination, and problem-solving skills. Children are required to seek resources for intent and explore with the way they look and feel. There is opportunity to understand more about the way different materials can be manipulated, and the permutations are endless! This really is the meaning of open-ended play and learning without limits. One other benefit to consider is the use of repurposing and reusing materials, which supports an eco-friendly ethos in the setting.

Where is the learning?

As with many activities in the early years, curriculum links cross and learning is happening through the characteristics of effective teaching and learning. Children learn key skills and practise through transient art, such as maths; moveable resources allow children to play with pattern, symmetry, counting, subitising, shape, size, and position to name a few! There are also many strong links to communication and language. Children can explain their thinking and reasoning, use descriptive language to talk about the resources, and even tell their own stories through what they are creating. Physical development is also being practised, with hand eye coordination and fine motor skills. For settings that use themes, topics, or texts to support their curriculum offer, transient art can easily be adapted to enhance this, e.g., minibeasts, special people pebble art, creating our own faces, exploring emotions and expressions. Children really get to understand that objects can be used to represent meaning.

Links to inspiring artists

There are many famous artists that have been motivated by transient art, such as Andy Goldsworthy and Richard Shilling. They often make use of what they have around them in the environment to capture and create art. 

How do we get started?

Collect resources of different shapes, sizes, and textures. Include natural resources and encourage children to collect things to add too. Start off with a few resources and build them up over time, as this may be new, and children can become overwhelmed with too much choice. Remember to risk assess small parts and ensure what you offer is age appropriate. Consider how you can make this appealing to children, by providing items to use as a ‘work area’, such as real photo frames, chalk frames on the ground, coloured paper, mirrors, placemats, and trays. Consider where children might access this – indoors, outside, on the floor, at a table. Think about the adult’s role. Could children’s transient art be recorded? Photos could be taken throughout the process to look back and reflect on the journey. Enhance the area with photos of inspiring transient art created by other children alongside more famous pieces. The possibilities really are endless!

Exploring Initial Teacher Training in Small Schools: A Guest Blog by Karen Taylor-Paul from Alban Teaching School Hub, with case studies from Hertfordshire schools

As part of the HFL Education Small Schools’ Programme—now in its second successful year, and about to enter a 3rd academic year—we’re pleased to share this special blog post on Initial Teacher Training (ITT). The blog aims to complement the programme’s mission to support our smaller schools through practical, relevant, and timely content.

We’re especially grateful to Karen from the Alban Teaching School Hub for contributing this guest post, in collaboration with Chiltern Teaching School Hub. Drawing on her experience and the voices of small school leaders, Karen explores the opportunities and challenges of engaging with ITT, offering practical advice and real-world examples, including some case studies.

Whether you're considering hosting a trainee or simply curious about the benefits for your school community, this blog is designed to inform and inspire.

The HFL Education Small Schools' Programme launched in early 2024 with sessions facilitated by our experienced team of advisers and speakers hand-picked for their innovative and successful approaches to leading smaller schools.

The first series was very well received, earning a BETT Award nomination for Leadership and Management Solutions for 2025 and an endorsement from Neil Short, Chairman of the National Association of Small Schools.

The Third round begins in autumn 2025, with sessions each half term. Focuses have been chosen for their current relevance and based on feedback from the sector. We hope you can join us for the next instalment! 

Find out more:

With the continued downward trend in teacher qualification and ongoing national recruitment issues, it is important to ensure that we are doing all we can to support those who do choose to train.

Supporting trainees can be a daunting prospect for headteachers, and especially for those in smaller schools, but can offer huge advantages.

In this blog, we provide the answers to some frequently asked questions, as well as sharing the experience of two local headteachers, who have successfully supported trainees within their small school settings.

Recruitment into primary ITT – the national picture

There has been a continued downward trend in postgraduate primary entrants since the high during the pandemic (14,380 in 2020/21 to 8,258 in 2024/25). 88% of the PGITT target was achieved in 2024/25 primary compared to 94% in 2023/24. School workforce in England data published in June 2024 showed the teacher workforce grew by less than 300 teachers in the previous year as record low numbers of early career teachers entered the profession coupled with rising numbers of teachers leaving (39,971 – rate of 8.8%).
 

Benefits of hosting a primary trainee

Hosting trainee teachers in school can bring a whole range of advantages:
•    Additional classroom support
•    Build a talent pool and pipeline for future recruitment in your school or trust
•    Support retention
•    Create professional development opportunities for colleagues who mentor
•    Bring in new ideas to your school 
•    Offer release time for phase leaders or senior leaders 
•    School-based trainees are supernumerary

Other considerations:

•    Building capacity in your small teams (with falling roll and financial instability)
•    Access funding through the apprenticeship levy
•    PGTA is brilliant for job shares (e.g job share with an Assistant Head).  
•    In a trust the release time can enable experienced colleagues to work across a trust within the school day 
•    Many trainees go on to successfully gain employment in their placement or another local school
•    If you have a really good member of support staff with a degree could they be supported to train? These colleagues would need to be known to your school for at least a year to commence the programme. There are a range of providers in the local area which can be signposted to you by your local Teaching School Hub.  

Some barriers to being involved in training are perceived rather than actual experiences

Often schools are worried about some or all of the following, but none of these need to prevent you from working with trainees: 
•    Mentoring requirements
•    Mentoring capacity (experience / suitability)
•    School Ofsted grading 
•    Quality of Education in the school
•    Staffing changes in the school
•    Having both an ECTs and an ITT trainee at the same time

Mentoring 

In fact, mentoring is an exciting role for more experienced practitioners within in a school and as leaders we need to elevate this status in our organisations:
•    Mentoring can be shared so that more than one staff member takes responsibility for ensuring high quality training and mentoring
•    Mentoring is essential to the development and retention of your workforce
•    Mentors impact colleagues throughout training and their induction
•    Evidence informed professional development is provided for mentors and schools are funded for this training time.  
•    Training material can be embedded into wider teaching practice.
•    Access to the latest research, practice and innovation on teaching and support for young people
•    Payment to the school to support the training
•    Makes staff feel valued and subsequently supports staff retention 
•    DfE are responsive to feedback from the TSH – you will see changes within your schools
•    Build school capacity through mentor development and growing expertise
•    Trainees must deliver 80% (14 hours) of a timetable by the final term which provides capacity for the colleague in the class they are assigned

What are the training pathways?

There are a variety of different routes available, including:
•    Primary 3 – 7 (QTS only and PGCE)
•    Primary 5 – 11 (QTS only and PGCE)
•    Post Graduate Teacher Apprenticeship (PGTA)
•    BEd
These programmes are now all available as part-time routes (3 days or 4 days a week).

What is the Post Graduate Teaching Apprenticeship?

As a newer training option, this is often a route employers understand least about, which can lead to a lack of confidence to support participants. Here are some key points of reference:
•    An apprenticeship to enable degree holders to gain QTS whilst employed in a school
•    Fees of £9000 are payable from your apprenticeship levy which will be on the approved providers list at HCC if your staffing does not make you eligible for levy funding directly. 
•    Apprentices are paid on the UNQ1 and are employed full-time during their training period
•    12-month contract from 1 July 2025 to 31 July 2026.  This is currently being reviewed by the DfE to reduce the duration. 
•    The apprentice can teach up to 60% of a timetable solo from September (equivalent of 10 hours)
•    The apprentice will be required to complete a contrasting placement in the Spring Term

Hear from Hertfordshire primary headteachers

Two local headteachers share their own experience supporting initial teacher training in small schools:
 

"We were delighted to learn about the Initial Teacher Training (ITT) programme through Alban Teaching School Hub as we had an outstanding staff member eager to advance her career. Our primary concern was how to facilitate this development without losing her valuable contributions to our team.

Having previously collaborated with the Alban TSH in supporting Early Career Teachers (ECTs), I was pleased to discover a new pathway offered by a trusted provider. Initially, I was apprehensive about the time commitment required for mentoring, particularly given our status as a small school. However, I found that most mentoring sessions occurred outside of teaching hours, and there is a clear expectation that the school day extends beyond 3:15 PM.

The consistency in scheduling trainee teachers' days out of the classroom has greatly facilitated our planning and organisation of cover. Additionally, we receive ample notice for any additional days required, ensuring minimal disruption.

I have been thoroughly impressed with the diligence of the tutors who visit to monitor progress. Their visits provide an excellent opportunity for both our mentor and me to address any lingering questions.

I highly recommend this pathway to other small schools, as it has proven to be an effective means of retaining talented staff."

John Ferguson
Headteacher, Kimpton Primary School working with Alban TSH
 

Our rationale for having a trainee:

As a small school with well established staff it gives the opportunity to bring someone new to the team. It’s great CPD for the mentor and brings in some money too. I like the idea of giving something back, after all we were all trainees once up on a time.

Did you have initial concerns or reservations?

It does involve a time commitment for the mentor and also other staff across the school. Historically we had some bad experiences with students who didn’t seem to understand the role or the commitment needed. Over the past decade this has shifted and we have only had positive experiences.

What training route have you identified? PGCE, PGTA, part-time?

We’ve had BEd, PGCE and part-time students. The best for us have been final year BEd or last placement PGCE as they can take on more teaching commitments. When we have had emergency staff requirements these students have been worth their weight in gold. They took on large teaching commitments and really stepped up to the challenge. Part time students are the hardest to accommodate as they never see a whole week through and can miss whole subjects and sequences. We’ve found they need to have the flexibility to do different days in order to get the bigger picture.

Benefits that having a trainee has brought to our school:

• New and current teaching practice and resources used in school.
• Children get to experience a different teacher, when they often have the same teacher for at least two years, this is especially valuable in a small school.
• They often have more energy and enthusiasm which rubs off on current staff
• It’s helpful sharing rationale behind decision making as it can help us all question our practice, staying curious is really important and can be hard otherwise
• Teachers can be released while students are teaching, even if it’s just to mark at the back of a room!
• Some of our students have kept in touch, attending the summer residential and productions
• Children across the whole school build up relationships with different adults
• Students often bring a new skill set in school, they might run a club or introduce a new sport or language which all enriches school for everyone

Tips or things to consider for schools not currently engaged in ITT

• The mentor will need to attend training
• All staff need to be on board in a small school as students need to experience each phase and will have random questions for everyone!
• Workload of the mentor is increased at least at the start of the practice
• The mentor has to want to be involved

Anja Tyler, Headteacher
Benington C of E Primary School working with Chiltern TSH

Common questions for small schools:

Q: We have small classes or mixed year groups in classes.  Can a trainee work with these groups as part of their training year?

A: Trainees must experience four consecutive year groups across their training year.  A mixed class is in keeping with the training guidance.

Q: What happens when our trainee leaves for their contrasting placement?

A: Training provisions will accommodate a direct swap with someone training on the same programme, where possible.

Q: Our classroom teacher has areas of responsibility due to the size of our school. Can the trainee take these on?

A: The collaboration between a trainee and the experienced classroom teacher can often breakdown feelings of isolation in small schools.  The trainee can build up the support and delivery of specific areas of the curriculum in the earlier part of the training year. The regular class teacher can continue to deliver the specific specialism in the early stages of the training year.

Engage your school community into considering a career in teaching

This does not necessarily mean to train in your setting but we know that the majority of applications for teacher training in Hertfordshire are from applicants where specific schools or local communities are known to them.

Consider the following in your communications:

• Pop up on your website
• Train to teach info in newsletters and on websites
• Pop up banners if your school is used for external hires
• Host a school experience morning for perspective applicants in your area
• Use the Teach in Herts recruitment service to signpost opportunities to candidates

For more information

Please contact your local Teaching School Hub for more information or support:

‘Do you think you’re good at writing?’

Some other examples of questions we asked the children were:

• What goes through your head when your teacher says, "Now we are going to do some writing?"
• What do you like about writing?
• Do you write much at home?
• Do you know why you are writing the things you do at school?
• In class, do you get to make choices about what you write about?
• Do you know how to improve your writing?
• Think about the last piece of writing you have done in school. What star rating would you give it?

Crucially, we asked the children for feedback on how we could improve writing at Highover. For example, we asked, ‘Do you have any ideas for how we could make writing at Highover better?’ Examples of the children’s responses included:

‘I think that English could be improved by giving us opportunities where we can pick what to write about/free writing.’

‘Doing writing for fun in your own different book and if you had an idea in the week, you could write it all down before you go home.’

‘Let children write whatever comes out of their head onto a piece of paper.’

As you can see from the pie charts above, older pupils were enjoying writing less than younger pupils and children’s suggestions reflected that they wanted more freedom with their writing. We felt a responsibility to give our pupils the chance to develop a genuine love of writing. To do this, we created opportunities for them to write freely outside of English lessons, allowing them to explore topics of their own choosing. We hoped this freedom would help them associate writing with joy, pride, and self-motivation.

We introduced ‘writing for pleasure journals’ for all our pupils to encourage a sense of creative freedom, allowing them to write without the immediate focus on specific learning outcomes or the pressure of perfect punctuation, spelling, and grammar - while still valuing these skills as part of their broader development. Some children choose to write in response to a given prompt. The prompts may, for example, be an image, a piece of music, an object or a poem and they may lead to pupils choosing to write, for example, a poem, a description, a recipe, a diary entry, a news story, an interview or a letter.

If we want our children to truly see themselves as writers, who make their own choices, and who are confident to write at length in a range of genres, we need to give them opportunities to write for their own pleasure, in their own book – and in the knowledge that it will only be shared if they wish to share it.

Our ‘writing for pleasure’ sessions complement the philosophy of the ESSENTIALWRITING curriculum perfectly. Within English lessons and writing for pleasure sessions, children are learning all of the skills they need to write effectively and then combine these with a genuine desire to write authentically. One teacher thoughtfully reflected on the writing for pleasure journalling sessions:

“Children really love writing for pleasure. They like being able to write about the stimulus but many also write their own stories so don't use the stimulus. In each session, they can either start something new or pick up from where they were last time.”

Our key principles at Highover for developing a writing for pleasure culture:

• Child-centred: regardless of the stimulus; the writing children create is ultimately up to them.
• Ownership and agency: pupils are given ownership over their writing projects, allowing them to make choices about their content, genre, and writing process. Each child should have a dedicated writing journal to use for these sessions.
• Creative freedom: writing sessions promote creativity, exploration, and the freedom to experiment with ideas and styles. This writing is not checked or ‘marked’ in the same way it would be in an English lesson, but children can choose to share it with others if they wish to.
• Engagement through collaboration: children are motivated by opportunities to share, discuss, and work together on writing projects.
• Teachers as writers: teachers participate alongside pupils, modelling the writing process and demonstrating how writing can be enjoyable.
• Building confidence: giving children time, space, and support to develop their writing skills, fostering a positive attitude towards writing.
• Writing community: creating a classroom culture where writing is celebrated, shared, and enjoyed by all

We have found that many of the pupils, who previously didn’t enjoy writing, are now developing a sense of enjoyment of writing:

‘I like it because in writing for pleasure sessions you can write about anything you want and this gives more freedom.’

‘It gives me ideas about writing stories at home. I love it because it's super duper fun!’

‘I now like writing because it is fun, and you can enjoy it. Sometimes we even do writing for pleasure and that is SO fun!’

‘You can write in any way you like. For example, you can write a song, a poem or a story’

‘It makes me feel relaxed.’

In primary schools, our curriculum is so full, it often feels as if there isn’t enough time for anything outside of our tight timetables for things such as writing for fun. This is where we need to be brave enough to give our pupils what they want and need. Ultimately, it can support them to be empowered, confident and keen writers for life.

I could easily fill this blog with endless ‘team’ related quotes but feel the above embodies nicely how trust and governing boards can strive to succeed. There are very few cases where individual governors enable a school to maximise the potential of all its pupils on their own but rather more common is where the collective effort of a group of governors or trustees come together and raise the bar for their school.

Governance is a team game and like football requires teamwork, a strategy and shared goals (excuse the pun). Just as football needs a manager, captain, vice-captain, players, coaches and support staff to work effectively so a governing board similarly needs a headteacher, Chair, Vice chair, governors and a governance professional clerk.

Teamwork and collaboration

In football, each player has a specific role, whether it's the goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders, or forwards. Similarly, in school governance, each member of the governing body has a distinct role. The chair of governors is akin to the team captain, leading and inspiring the team, other governors, like defenders and midfielders assume various link and committee roles playing on their strengths and individual skill set, and (this may be a stretch!) the centre forwards are those experienced governors you can send out to ‘play’ upfront as vice and committee chairs. The headteacher, much like the manager, is responsible for the day-to-day management of the wider team plus as a member of the governance team working to support the whole school community. 

Just as a football team must work together to win, school governors must collaborate to ensure their school's success. Effective communication is crucial. In football, players must train hard together, communicate on the field to execute a game plan and adapt to the opponent's tactics. In governance, governors must communicate openly and regularly, train on their own and together, understand the challenges in the education landscape and develop strategies and have a plan to achieve their school development and strategic goals (there it is again!).

Strategy and planning

A successful football team has a well-thought-out game plan. They watch their opponents, identify strengths and weaknesses, and develop strategies to win. Similarly, as governors we must be horizon scanning for threats and opportunities, benchmarking ourselves against schools of a similar size, consider national benchmarking data to help maximise the opportunities and assess the challenges. All of this can be captured in a strategic plan and vision for our schools. This involves setting ambitious targets and objectives, with clear KPIs, monitoring progress towards these, and adjusting the course of progress when needed. The strategic plan should address key areas such as the school estate, IT provision, SEND provision, student outcomes and wellbeing and how these will be underpinned through effective use of school finances and budgeting.

Recruitment and retention

In football, recruiting and retaining talented players is essential for success. Similarly, school governors must focus on recruiting and retaining high quality staff. This includes not only teachers but also support staff, senior leaders as well as the best governors! High turnover rates can disrupt the school's stability, leadership and impact student outcomes. Governors and school leaders must create a positive work culture where all staff are valued, supported and invested in through long-term professional development and a supportive working culture. This will not only help retain staff members but also attract the best staff to join from other schools with a less positive work environment.

Monitoring and evaluation

Football teams constantly evaluate their performance, reviewing match footage and statistics to improve their performance. School governors must also monitor and evaluate their school's performance. This involves reviewing data on student attainment, achievement, attendance, behaviour and looking at how different groups of pupils perform. Governors should visit the school regularly, gather evidence on areas specific to their link role or area of expertise, and meet with staff and pupils to monitor the school’s progress towards its short-term School Development Plan objectives and medium/ long-term strategic aims and vision.

Stakeholder engagement

A football team thrives on the support of its fans and how it supports and interacts with the local community. Similarly, a school benefits from strong stakeholder and community engagement. Governors should foster communication with parents, local businesses and community organisations. This can help to build positive relationships and engagement with, and from, the community which can only help to cement your schools place at the heart of its community, this in turn may secure much needed additional resources and support for the school. Engagement with, and understanding of, the community a school serves should also feed into the development of your curriculum and ethos that reflects the needs, values, history, diversity and context of the local area.

School governance IS a team game. Like a football team, school governors must work together, communicate effectively, and develop strategic plans to overcome challenges and maximise opportunities. By drawing on the strengths of each team member and engaging with stakeholders, governors can ensure that their school provides the best possible education and maximise the opportunities for all its pupils – or put more simply, win the game!

With evidence-based approaches to the teaching of reading ever more prevalent in schools, and with reading for pleasure and high-quality phonics instruction a focus for Ofsted, DfE English Hubs and therefore schools, we would expect reading standards to be on the rise. In many ways, they are. If we consider the key stage 2 reading SATs outcomes of 2024, the percentage of children achieving the expected standard rose to 74%, up from 73% in 2023. We know that considering this measure alone as a barometer for success is flawed. Reading is a complex undertaking, and therefore requires a complex approach to its assessment, but nonetheless, around a quarter of 10 and 11 year olds have left primary school each year in recent years unable to demonstrate the stamina, fluency and written reading comprehension skills required of them.  

We have supported hundreds and hundreds of teachers through our successful Reading Fluency Project over the years with closing this very specific gap for their pupils - lack of comprehension of age-appropriate texts. In our most recent rounds of the project, I have been struck by just how many times I have had the same discussion with teachers. It goes something along the lines of: “My bottom 20% seems to be getting bigger and bigger each year and they seem to be further and further behind!” (Any non-educationalist mathematician will swiftly identify the lack of logic in that statement, but this term bottom 20% has become somewhat synonymous with ‘struggling readers’).  If we are getting better at understanding the science of how children learn to read, teaching the code with more efficacy, on a bed of authentic reading for pleasure culture, then why does this long tail stubbornly remain in year 6?  

I have a theory about this. One of the difficulties is that in some schools, children’s only form of reading instruction, perhaps since year 2 or year 3, has been whole class guided reading. In some cases, in real terms, this could mean that for the last four or five years in every reading lesson, for the most vulnerable learners, the text presented has been too hard. The very children who need the  most practice, as they are at risk of falling behind, are denied the ability to even participate meaningfully in the lesson.  

Let’s imagine Mia. Mia is in year 3 and when she was in year 1, she attained the expected standard in the phonics screening check. She achieved a score of 34. She could read the phonemes presented on a flashcard and blend them into words. She could read her decodable reading books but she read them slowly, often pausing to blend and did not progress through the bands as swiftly as her peers. She sounds dysfluent to listen to when attempting to read from an age-appropriate book but can read her well-matched reading book. Now Mia is in year 3, she participates in whole-class reading lessons as she doesn’t meet the threshold for requiring phonics intervention. However, when the teacher asks the whole class to read from the class novel or extract, Mia pretends. When she does attempt to read it, she crunches through the words slowly and has no headspace left for understanding. She thinks reading is hard and that she’s not good at it. She no longer reads regularly at home, because she perceives that reading isn’t for her - she prefers other pursuits. In lessons, Mia can sometimes answer the questions that the teacher poses, especially following discussion or help from her peers. Her vocabulary is pretty good as she enjoys listening to stories and engaging in chat and role-play with her peers. 

Fast-forward 3 years and Mia is now in year 6. She still doesn’t enjoy reading at home. She has developed a suite of masking strategies which she artfully employs in reading lessons. She can lift surface-level retrieval responses without understanding. She can hide under the radar, appearing to be reading whilst her mind is somewhere else entirely. She doesn't put her hand up. She still loves listening to stories and in class story time, will participate enthusiastically. Mia will form part of that 26% of children who do not meet the expected standard in the SATs. It’s obvious when we consider her story. She met the expected standard in the screening check in year 1 but found reading hard - she lacked the automaticity required to develop proficiency. She knew the code but without very regular practice, she was not able to apply that code without conscious effort. The books were getting harder and harder each year, and Mia’s fluency was not able to keep up. What she needed was practice and lots of it. Instead, she was denied the opportunity to read at all during the school day; the texts on offer were all inaccessible to her. She was stuck in a vicious cycle. Reading was hard - therefore she didn’t practise - therefore reading remained hard. It seemed to her that those around her who loved the whole class reading lessons were able to read the chosen text and got better and better at reading. She didn’t see a problem with the form of instruction, she thought the problem was her - ‘reading isn’t for me.’  

In my view, the problem isn’t with the whole class guided reading lesson, the problem is that in this case, it’s the only reading lesson. In Mia’s case, this lack of access to appropriate reading material to build her fluency and comprehension is exacerbated by the fact that she doesn’t read at home. As teachers, we can’t control this, so we need to ensure that we have systems in place which allow for enough reading to happen within the school day, so that those who aren’t reading at home aren’t further disadvantaged.  

What might the solution be to this long tail which we are seeing at the top end of our primary schools?  

Fluency pre-read 

Where the class reading lessons utilise a shared text which is pitched at age-relatedness, then those children who lack the automaticity to read it independently with comprehension can have a pre-read of the text prior to the lesson. There need be no pre-teaching of vocabulary, or preparation of questions and response, simply reading and re-reading the text over and over a few times will allow for a level-playing field once the lesson begins. Those children like Mia will be at an advantage, rather than a disadvantage. 

Independent reading

In addition to the whole class reading lessons, time can be sought within the school day for children to simply read their book. Success with this yields huge reward but is hard-won. All children need to have access to rich and high-quality texts which are correctly matched to their reading ability. There needs to be opportunity for authentic book chat and recommendations from the adults as well as the peers. A wealth of ideas can be sought on the OU’s Reading for Pleasure site. Once this will to read is well-developed, children choose to read at home of their own volition, thereby creating a virtuous circle. The more they do it, the better they get at it. 

Assisted reading

Tweaks within the taught reading lesson to enhance access are easy to implement. One of the most effective can be assisted reading. Instead of asking children to take turns to read aloud, or asking them to read the extract in their heads, reading the text aloud to the children with expert prosody, asking them to follow along with their eyes will develop their understanding and ability to read with prosody themselves. Children can then independently re-read the text, before discussion commences.  

Asking the right questions 

Most successful reading lessons will take the form of reading, thinking, discussion, questioning and response. Often, the key to enjoyment and understanding will be in asking the right sorts of questions. Inference is the outcome of good reading; we want to be able to visualise, empathise, connect and understand when we read, in order to derive joy from it. Provocations which lead to thinking and inferential understanding are the most important kind.  

The long tail of struggling readers at the upper end of primary school reflects the need for a more nuanced and tailored approach to reading instruction. Whole-class guided reading, while valuable, is not sufficient on its own for children who have not yet developed fluency or comprehension at the required level. To break the cycle, schools can provide opportunities for fluency-building practices, independent reading, and targeted support to ensure all children, including those who struggle, have access to appropriate texts and the practice they need to thrive. By embedding strategies such as pre-reading, assisted reading, and fostering authentic reading enjoyment, we can create an environment where every child, like Mia, has the chance to not only keep up with their peers but to develop a love for reading that lasts a lifetime. 

To join our renowned Reading Fluency Project and learn our evidence-based suite of strategies and resources which swiftly close attainment gaps in reading, then get in touch via reading.fluency@hfleducation.org.