121. Developing self-regulation

Self-regulation is the ability to manage your emotions, thoughts, and behaviours to suit different situations. For primary school pupils, this skill is still developing and often requires co-regulation – where an adult provides support to help the child regain calm. Effective self-regulation helps children focus on learning, build stronger friendships, and handle daily stressors like frustration or tiredness.

Teaching self-regulation to primary pupils is basically helping them learn how to hit the pause button when they’re feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. Think of it like teaching them to drive their own ’emotional car’, they need to know when to accelerate and when to apply the brakes.

This staff meeting starter provides an opportunity for staff to consider how frequently and how effectively they directly teach self-regulation strategies and how confident they are at supporting pupils through co-regulation.

Linked resources

Self-regulation is closly linked with executive function. Premium subscribers can watch our mini-training module about executive function where we explain what executive function is, why it is important to educators, and how to develop pupils’ executive function through a range of strategies. 

120. Developing community engagement

Effective community engagement in schools focuses on building reciprocal relationships where schools, families, and local organisations work together to support pupil success. It builds a culture of belonging, improves pupil outcomes, and strengthens local bonds. Think of school community engagement less like a formal presentation and more like building a neighbourhood network. It’s about moving from ‘us vs. them’ to ‘we’re all in this together’. Initiatives enhance the school reputation, while making the community feel invested in the educational journey of its pupils.

This staff meeting starter provides an opportunity for teachers to consider the current position of the school and development strategies to shift from a ‘top-down’ approach to one of active collaboration to improve attendance, boost academic outcomes and foster a genuine sense of belonging.

Linked resources

Premium subscribers can access a self-evaluation document to help school leaders audit community involvement and engagement. This will provide leaders with the relevant information to identify areas to improve school-community relationships and strengthen local ties by planning community involvement strategies for the school, whilst balancing this with the school improvement priorities. It can be found in the resource bank.

119. The importance of motivation

Motivation in the primary classroom is the driving force that converts a child’s potential into actual learning. It’s the spark that fuels curiosity, builds a lasting love of learning, and helps children develop the resilience they need when things get tricky. When pupils feel motivated, we see it straight away in their engagement, behaviour, and progress…it’s the bridge between effort and achievement.

Motivated learners don’t give up easily. They ask questions, stay curious, and begin to develop the self-regulation habits that will support them throughout their education. In the primary years, this matters enormously: these early experiences shape how children see themselves as learners and how confident they feel tackling new challenges.

This staff meeting starter helps staff to consider how they foster motivation in pupils through cultivating autonomy, competence and relatedness.

118. Why understanding pupils’ lived experiences matter

A child’s world outside of school acts like a blueprint for how they’ll do inside the classroom. When they have a stable home and solid relationships, they’re naturally more curious and ready to dive into learning.

But if they’re dealing with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), things like neglect, abuse, or constant high stress, it changes how their brain works. Instead of focusing on a maths problem, their brain stays stuck in survival mode, making it incredibly hard to concentrate or even just show up to class. The good news is that school can also be a safe haven. Positive school experiences and supportive teachers can actually help ‘buffer’ the impact of a difficult home life and build up a child’s resilience.

This staff meeting starter encourages staff to consider how well they know individual pupil’s lived experiences and how they use this information to support pupils in their educational journey.

117. Developing parental engagement

Effective parental engagement in primary schools is most successful when it is treated as a two-way partnership rather than just a “broadcast” of information from school to home.

Research shows that by age seven, parents have significantly more influence on a child’s learning than the school does, making this relationship critical for pupil outcomes. It’s about building trust and making sure they feel like they’re part of the team, not just outsiders looking in. Boosting parental engagement in primary schools is about moving from simple involvement (attending events) to active engagement in a child’s learning.

This staff meeting starter provides an opportunity of staff to consider the current position of parental engagement and discuss what works and what strategies they may introduce or change to make it more effective for all groups.

Linked resources

Premium subscribers can access two documents relating to parental engagement:

• School communication plan
• Parental involvement and engagement self-evalution and action plan

Click the button below to access them. Remember that you need to be logged in to access any documents from the resource bank.

116. The cost of confusing worked examples

The primary “cost” of confusing worked examples is that they actively block learning and lead to example-consistent misconceptions, where pupils develop incorrect rules that happen to match the flawed example provided.

An analogy for a confusing worked example is your SATNAV giving the wrong directions…once a pupil starts down that path, it’s really hard to get them back on the right road. In a primary classroom, the “cost” isn’t just a missed mark on a test; it’s mental clutter. Research shows that pupils who learn from clear examples can score up to three times higher than those who receive ambiguous ones.

This staff meeting starter provides opportunities for teachers to consider and discuss the worked examples they use when teaching to ensure they do not contribute to building misconceptions and hindering learning through cognitive overload.

Linked resources

Premium subscribers can access a 12-minute training module about worked examples. The video explains how to use worked examples and worked non-examples to help pupils learn by reducing the cognitive load and making the learning process more explicit.

115. Raising aspirations through careers education

Raising aspirations in primary school isn’t about asking seven‑year‑olds to choose a future career, it’s about making sure they don’t close off possibilities before they’ve even had the chance to explore them.

Rather than relying on a one‑off ‘Careers Day’, we can gently weave career ideas through everyday learning. A quick example: when teaching shapes, you might mention how architects, engineers or graphic designers use them in their work. Younger children often have a very limited picture of what jobs exist, and research shows they start picking up gendered ideas about careers surprisingly early. Parents also play a huge role. If they feel certain paths “aren’t for people like us”, children often absorb that message too. That’s why working in partnership with families is such an important part of raising aspirations for every child.

This staff meeting starter invites staff to think about how we can broaden children’s horizons and challenge stereotypes early on through simple, meaningful career‑related experiences and activities.

114. The nine events of instruction

Robert Gagné’s Nine Events of Instruction is a step-by-step guide for teaching in a way that really helps people learn. Instead of just presenting information and hoping it sticks, Gagné laid out a clear sequence of stages that make learning more effective.

Each of the nine “events” plays a specific role in the process – from grabbing learners’ attention at the start, to helping them apply and retain what they’ve learned at the end. Together, they create a structured flow that supports understanding, skill development, and long-term retention.

This staff meeting starter encourages staff to consider the nine events when they design a sequence of lessons to support the cognitive processes needed for effective learning and to make sure the information ‘sticks’.

Linked resources

Premium subscribers can access a range of training modules about the use of instruction including:

• Explicit, teacher-led instruction
• Effective vocabulary instruction
• ‘I do, We do, You do’

Click the button below to access them.

113. The impact of teacher wait time

Teacher wait time refers to the intentional pauses a teacher makes after asking a question (Wait Time 1) and after a pupil responds (Wait Time 2). Think of teacher wait time as the “breathing room” of a conversation. Most teachers (often because silence feels awkward!) jump in after less than a second. But if you can stretch that pause to between 3 and 5 seconds, the classroom dynamic shifts completely. The impact on pupils includes improved response quality, increased participation, higher cognitive engagement and reduces anxiety and pressure. The impact for teachers includes quality over quantity, higher expectations, and efficiency.

This staff meeting starter encourages staff to consider the wait times they actually use in class and how they can develop a pause and silence to improve answers and participation and reduce ‘I don’t know’ responses.

112. The power of expectations

Think of teacher expectations as a “silent thermostat”, they set the actual temperature for what a pupil believes he or she can achieve. If a teacher enters a room viewing a pupil as a “troublemaker” or “struggling,” they might subconsciously offer less eye contact or simpler work. Conversely, treating them like a scholar-in-waiting often encourages them to step up to the plate.

High expectations in the classroom act as a catalyst for pupil success, directly shaping behaviour, academic performance, and self-belief. By communicating clear, high standards (the Pygmalion Effect), teachers foster a positive, secure environment where pupils are motivated to reach their full potential.

This staff meeting starter encourages staff to consider their expectations for all pupils, how these are delivered and communicated and how they can support and drive the culture in the classroom to ensure excellence.

Linked resources

Premium subscribers can access two training modules about behaviour management. The first introduces key principles for establishing a positive behaviour climate. In the video we explain how strong relationships and mutual respect support effective routines, high expectations and consistent sanctions. The second video outlines strategies for addressing pinch points, using Dreikurs’ approaches to misbehaviour, and applying restorative questions to rebuild relationships and improve conduct.