Planning at Key Stage 3

My messages are simple regarding planning at Key Stage 3.  Firstly, make sure there is a thoughtful long-term plan which identifies where the main concepts are being developed (major and minor), where the main assessment focus will be and how different enquiries are linked.  Above all, colleagues working from the medium term plans need to know where the emphasis should be placed.  Of all the levels of planning, it is the medium-term that is the most influential.  If planned in sufficient detail it should inform everyone's teaching to achieve consistency, without stifling creativity.  As far as the short-term is concerned, the main concern here needs to be differentiation, structure, pace and transitions within the lesson .  There is no need to rewrite the medium-term; just cross refer.  Although there is little new that hasn't already been written about planning, there are some neat little tricks that might help you to get a feel for issues of balance and coverage of different perspectives.

Key point 1: colour-coding aspects

Given that your department's planning is going to be used by just a few colleagues, it is worth thinking about the feasibility of using colour to highlight different aspects of your work. In this way, you can see at a glance how frequently you are using particular approaches such as thinking skills or addressing specific issues e.g. citizenship.  I like to use it to identify opportunities for challenging gifted and talented students too.

Key point 2: working document

Make the medium-term plans for each enquiry a working document that colleagues refer to everyday and annotate at the end of each enquiry.  I would make this a routine focus for part of a departmental meeting.

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