INSET: Quality First Teaching That Sticks

Quality First Teaching (QFT) continues to be the single most effective whole‑school strategy for improving outcomes for all pupils. High‑quality, inclusive classroom practice provides the foundation on which adaptive teaching, SEND support, behaviour routines, and effective curriculum implementation are built. Research consistently shows that excellent teaching not only raises attainment but substantially narrows gaps for pupils with SEND and other vulnerable groups, making it the most powerful lever for equity and excellence across a school.

This programme brings together the strongest, most up‑to‑date evidence from cognitive science, adaptive teaching guidance, effective SEND pedagogy, and behaviour and belonging research. It supports teachers and leaders in understanding what makes great teaching — and crucially how to make it stick in everyday classroom practice. Evidence emphasises that content knowledge, modelling, checking for understanding, scaffolding, and high‑quality explanations are among the practices with the most reliable impact on pupil achievement.

Rooted in these insights, the course is highly practical, interactive and focused on immediately transferable strategies.

Who is this Quality First Teaching INSET for

This course is suitable for:

• All classroom teachers (EYFS, Primary, Secondary, FE) seeking to sharpen instructional practice
• ECTs and early career teachers, who benefit strongly from exposure to evidence‑based teaching models
• Middle leaders and curriculum leads, aiming to strengthen consistency across a department or phase
• SENCOs and Inclusion Leads, embedding QFT as the first step of the graduated approach
• Teaching Assistants, where schools opt to include the TA deployment module

Benefits of Booking this INSET

Participants and schools can expect the following benefits:

For Teachers

• A clear, evidence-informed understanding of what highly effective instruction looks like
• Practical tools to implement adaptive teaching that supports all learners without lowering challenge
• Stronger confidence in modelling, scaffolding, and checking understanding, grounded in proven principles of instruction
• Improved classroom climate and behaviour through relational routines aligned with current DfE behaviour guidance
• Better collaboration with TAs, ensuring support supplements—rather than replaces—instruction, improving pupil independence

For Schools

• A consistent, shared pedagogical framework (“QFT in 10”) to underpin all teaching
• Evidence‑aligned tools that support school priorities such as curriculum implementation, SEND, behaviour and teaching & learning quality
• Sustainable improvement through a simple, research‑backed implementation model, enabling changes to embed long‑term
• Inspection‑aware practice aligned with sector frameworks (Ofsted EIF or ISI, depending on phase/sector) without introducing unnecessary jargon

Quality First Teaching INSET Outline

Introduction & Purpose

• Establish shared definitions of Quality First Teaching
• Explore why QFT is the foundation for SEND, inclusion, behaviour, curriculum and attainment
• Examine the core research base underpinning effective teaching

What Quality First Teaching Looks Like

• Develop a common set of professional expectations for teaching
• Introduce the QFT in 10 framework
• Identify observable practices linked strongly to improved outcomes (e.g., modelling, questioning, assessment for learning)

Adaptive Teaching: Inclusion Without Lowering Challenge

• Understand adaptive teaching and how it differs from differentiation
• Explore the “Five‑a‑Day” strategies for SEND‑inclusive classrooms, including explicit instruction and scaffolding
• Practice adapting explanations, tasks and success criteria
• Learn methods for gradually releasing responsibility to pupils

Cognitive Science in Action

• How working memory and long‑term memory shape teaching and learning
• Use small steps, retrieval practice and spaced learning to improve long‑term retention
• Apply modelling, worked examples and deliberate practice drawn from high‑impact instructional principles
• Implement reliable checking‑for‑understanding (CFU) methods

Behaviour, Relationships & Belonging

• Understand belonging as the gateway to learning
• Develop routines that support calm, predictable classrooms
• Learn high‑value relational strategies based on DfE behaviour guidance
• Embed inclusive participation structures (e.g., no‑opt‑out questioning, turn‑and‑talk)

Effective Deployment of Teaching Assistants

• Ensure TAs supplement rather than replace teacher instruction
• Develop pre‑brief / debrief structures for TA partnership
• Explore ways TAs can support independence rather than dependency
• Align practice with EEF recommendations for high‑impact TA use

Planning Clinic: Applying Quality First Teaching to Real Lessons

• Redesign a lesson or short sequence using tools from the training
• Embed modelling, scaffolding and CFU into planning
• Decide how TA input will be structured
• Integrate belonging‑centred behaviour routines

enquiries@jmcinset.com