This has been a tough year - what was your biggest challenge?

This year was my first year working at a primary, after years of teaching secondary. That has been a challenge in itself.

On top of that, I was given responsibility for leading professional development. In this area, one of the biggest challenges has been creating a culture to improve practice through small focuses and small gains - 1 per cent improvements that, in time, can add up to a lot.

Improvements in one area often mean indirect improvements in others, and this is where less can be more. If, for example, a teacher chooses to improve the quality of their modelling for solving problems in maths, they might also see notable improvements in other areas of their teaching practice. In this example, they might see improved quality of explanation, better use of metacognitive strategies and more effective feedback.

Some staff might think they have “done” modelling, but if you unpick this area of effective practice over time, you allow for input, trialling, reflection and refining.

Ultimately, focusing on a granular element of teaching practice enables larger gains in the long run, rather than trying to “fix” everything all at once. But it certainly isn’t easy to get it right.

What was your most joyful moment?

In the initial stages of lockdown, we were acutely aware of the fact that staff and children were already missing the hustle and bustle of school.

Like many schools, we decided to create a video to share messages of hope and support, and to reinforce the values we held as a school. During that time of immense change and uncertainty, we wanted our children and their families to know that their school was still there to support them.

The video meant that families still had access to faces they recognised. It helped them to continue to feel part of the school community. Knowing that we were thinking about them and that we, collectively, were standing strong and unflinching in the face of Covid-19 meant the world to our families.

We received many messages of thanks from them, which, in turn, created a positive attitude to the home learning that we set.

What was the most surprising thing you discovered about your teaching?

My most surprising “discovery” wasn’t really a discovery: it was something that I gained a richer perspective on.

At my previous school, I had been quite used to leading assemblies. I saw them primarily as a tool for delivering important whole-school and key-stage messages.

However, this year I recognised the direct impact that great assemblies can have. You have a captive audience, all hearing the same message at the same time; this became one of the most valuable forms of communication for us during lockdown.

When followed up throughout the week, assemblies ensured that we were providing pupils with consistent and accurate messages of motivation, aspiration and unity.

What was one thing you changed this year for the better?

We developed our approaches to teaching new vocabulary this year. We introduced a common language for staff, making explicit reference to Tier 2 and 3 words, and investigating what Clare Sealey calls “Tier 2.5” (where words like “meander” are a Tier 3 word in geography but a Tier 2 word in English).

Doing this provided rich avenues to discuss and debate language both inside and outside of the classroom.

What was the moment that will stay with you for years?

Taking a group of Year 5 and 6 children to Wembley to watch the England women’s football team play Germany was a moment that will stay with me for a very long time.

Lots of the pupils had never been in a crowd so large before, let alone had a conceptual understanding of what a live sporting fixture looked like, sounded like or felt like.

It didn’t matter that the game ended with England losing 2-1. We were part of a record-breaking home crowd for women’s football. We experienced a true sporting contest in all its glory - the highs and the lows. It was an important moment that will help to frame how those children will view sport and competition at an elite level.

What do you hope to change in the next academic year?

I hope to continue developing more open and self-directed attitudes to professional learning. Securing buy-in and implementing change is one thing, but embedding that change has its own set of success criteria. Consistent reinforcing, and walking and talking those key messages day in and day out, enables the things we do well to become “just what we do here”.

The community we serve will grow as a result of a strong curriculum, with pedagogical choices based on content and learning intentions, and varying forms of assessment will ensure that our staff are responsive to children’s needs.

I will be moving on again this year. And although I might not be there to water the seeds as the school moves forward, as the wise book Legacy by James Kerr states, “plant trees you’ll never see”.

The priorities of the school that has been my home for this year could change at many levels, but I hope that the understanding of what makes effective teaching is stronger there now than it was before I arrived.

Hanna Miller is assistant head for teaching and learning across the Thinking Schools Academy Trust. She tweets @notesfromthebun

This article originally appeared in the 7 August 2020 issue under the headline “‘We stood strong and unflinching in this crisis’”