This is the third in a series of articles exploring how the Great Teaching Toolkit can support professional development in busy primary schools. Across the series, we’ll speak to schools already using the platform and the advisors who support them, exploring the approaches they’ve taken and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.

We’re continuing with Hannah Bickerdike, our Head of Customer Experience. Having supported hundreds of primary schools with professional development through the Great Teaching Toolkit, we asked Hannah a simple question:

if she were a primary school leader starting out with the Toolkit, what would she do?

‘If I were stepping into a primary school leadership role and introducing the Great Teaching Toolkit for the first time, I’d keep things simple, structured, and rooted in collaboration. My starting point would be to make professional learning a genuine priority. In practice, that means protected time for teachers, building this into the existing professional development calendar and reworking plans where needed.

Start with clarity and shared purpose

I’d begin by setting a clear, shared focus. I believe there’s real strength, especially early on, in working collectively on the same element. It builds momentum, supports collaboration, and can align with school improvement priorities. From there, I’d ask colleagues to gather some insight into their current practice through student feedback, peer observation, or self-reflection.

What matters most at this stage is not the data itself, but the thinking behind it. Teachers wouldn’t need to share feedback directly, but I would expect everyone to articulate what they’ve noticed, what’s influenced their thinking, and where they want to improve. It’s through this professional dialogue that the process begins to take shape, leading each teacher to set a personalised professional learning goal grounded in their context.

Explore and build understanding

Once we have our goals, I’d move into exploration. Ideally, staff would engage with the research underpinning the chosen element, building a shared understanding of what effective practice looks like and why it works. In many cases, I’d support this through one of our courses, paced so teachers move through the content together. That way, we can build in regular opportunities to reflect, discuss, and refine thinking as a group. It’s often during this phase that colleagues begin to sharpen or even adjust their original goals.

That said, I’m also mindful that context matters. If we needed to move more quickly, I’d take a more direct route, asking teachers to identify and trial specific techniques linked to their goals. The key here is still thoughtful selection: exploring a range of options, considering what aligns best, and making an informed choice. Alongside this, teachers would deepen their understanding of the chosen element by engaging with the recommended resources in the platform – articles, books, blogs and webinars – either individually, in small groups, or as a whole team.

No matter the approach, teachers are continuously supported through their personalised workspace in development cycles. As a leader, I can also draw on meeting templates and facilitator notes to structure my sessions, ensuring collaboration and reflection are purposeful and consistent at every stage.

Develop and refine practice

From there, the focus shifts to developing expertise. Here, I’d ask teachers to examine their chosen technique in more detail and think carefully about how it might look in their own classroom. This is where I’d bring colleagues back together to share their plans, creating space to test ideas, anticipate challenges, and learn from one another before implementation even begins.

I’d then build in time, usually a few weeks, for teachers to trial the technique in practice, capturing reflections as they go. We’d regroup to discuss what’s working, what isn’t, and what might need refining. After that, I’d encourage a second phase of implementation, giving colleagues the chance to embed adaptations and build confidence.

Feedback would be an important part of this cycle. Depending on what we started with, this might mean revisiting student surveys, inviting a colleague to provide feedback on a lesson with a specific focus, or using the video feedback tool to reflect on practice. The aim is to create a clear sense of progress and to ground professional learning in real classroom experience.

Celebrate and sustain effort

Finally, I’d bring everyone back together to share, reflect, and celebrate what’s been achieved. This helps to reinforce the value of the process and sustain momentum. From there, we could either continue to embed and refine our current focus or shift our focus to another element of great teaching.

We might spend anything from one term to one year on one of these cycles, depending on how deeply we engage with the exploration phase and the time we have available. But by keeping the process structured, collaborative, and rooted in evidence, I’d aim to create a professional learning culture that feels purposeful, manageable, and genuinely impactful.’

Got questions on how the Great Teaching Toolkit can be implemented in your context? Book a call with us to see the platform and what it can do for you.