Primary planning etc

[Serena1977]

Just wondered whether it was usual that the 2 teachers of a 2 form entry school would split the subjects and plan for each other. For example one does English, the other, maths. Not just planning, but the slides, worksheets, scripting, interventions, preparing the resources etc

Only if they agree!
It would seem the most sensible way but some teachers are very possessive and hate teaching from someone else's plans. They would rather do the lot themselves. It could also be that the classes are very different in terms of ability or personality and need a different approach. Some teachers might prefer to use ready made " bought in" plans and resources whilst others like to do everything from scratch. SLT might mandate that planning is shared, someone could write a couple of notes on the back of a fag packet, the other teacher 5 meticulous pages of script.

And that's why I've always taught in single year group schools!

I teach in a 3 form entry school.

All year groups (well, y1-6) split the planning:

1. Maths-5 lessons a week
2. English - 5 lessons
3. ‘Afternoons’ (Pe, art, DT, history, science, computing, PSHE)

We all find stuff for guided reading.

We all say ‘ how would we keep in single entry, having to plan 3 x as much’ 🤔

We plan together at PPA ( one whole day a fortnight). I then plan/ write/ resource and Art lesson say.

I make a flip, I write what resources they need. If worksheets for history, say, I print 90, but only trim my own 30.

When I teach another’s plan, if not sure about something I ask colleague. Also add/ amend if I want to.

*an art lesson < sighs>

When I worked in mainstream one of us planned English,one planned maths and made and printed all resources

We would swap every term and we used a bought in curriculum for non-core

We got 1hr a week of shared PPA but would often catch up before school to sense check how the week was going and give each other feedback

3 form here and we split the planning. Everyone takes on a foundation topic and plans/checks over the previous plan in the holidays (or at least has it ready for first lesson back).

We split the English, maths and reading journey.

We do stream lower ability for maths however so I have to create my own planning for that to ensure I fill the gaps.

All planning is talked through in PPA to make sure we cover what's needed by classes. It's then shared by Sunday lunchtime so you can make tweaks if you want.

The most frustrating thing recently was SLT expecting that our books looked identical across the classes as we were all following the same plan which we argue might not happen as some classes might skip over something or need something extra. They are starting to listen to us.

Yes, we split the planning like this, but honestly it actually creates more work...because it means that you have to make VERY detailed slides, as someone else has to know what is 'in your head', whereas, when you simply plan for yourself, you know what you mean when you just pop on an image of 'Beegu' for example, or an empty number line!

When I was in a single form entry school, I would often just put up an empty smart slide for my maths lessons with the date and LI written on, as I would know what I was going to be teaching the children (they would have their sheets or resources or whatever they needed) and I would then just go through it on the screen or flip chart with them. Now, if I'm on maths planning that term, each lesson is about 10 slides and about an hour or so to plan! Same with English...it takes hours and hours to plan, as we need to ensure that our partner teachers know what we mean. We don't have shared PPA either, and rarely get time after school to chat (marking, meetings, after school clubs!)

I would much rather do my own planning.

Excellent, thank you all of your replies.

I am on my second placement which is 2 form. First was 1 form.

The 2 schools are miles apart in terms of behaviour management, lesson offer, opportunities etc as well as how it is managed from the background.

The first school was amazing in terms of behaviour management, interesting and varied lessons and one form so full control over your own direction. Second school is 2 form, much more friendly, nurturing, family orientated but the lessons are boring, not very challenging and samey.

It certainly helps to see what sort of school I want to work in and what sort of teacher I want to be.

Happy to have a plan, not happy to have someone else's slides. I'd always smile, say thanks and redo them completely.

Lessons shouldn't be boring and samey just because they've split the planning though.
As we have 3 people to talk through planning we generally get more ideas and make them exciting.

That's more down to the school ethos than whether it's 1 or 2 form.

I'm in 2 form - most year groups share planning. I am in Reception and although we share provision and a medium term plan, we plan our inputs separately, partly because we have quite different classes (mine has a few very high fliers but also some significant SEND needs, the other class is more middle of the road) and partly because we both just like doing things our own way. I find it easier to teach off my own planning because I've gone through the process of thinking about what I'm doing and why. I'm only in my 2nd year though so maybe I do need that thinking process more than a more experienced teacher? Provision planning we each plan for the areas in our classrooms (bifold door which open them into one big space) and take turns to plan outdoors and shared area, but we do talk about provision day to day and share ideas.

I hated this when I worked in a 1.5 form mixed year school. We had three classes per phase and were instructed to do shared planning but it was broken down terribly. For each subject:
One teacher would write up an in-depth formal plan.
One teacher would make the slides.
One teacher would make the resources.

It just didn't work for me. I didn't need in-depth planning but had to write them because I was planning for someone else. I don't often use slides in my teaching so both getting them and making them were a complete waste. 9 times out of 10, the resources needed adjusting to reflect the individual classes and differing abilities anyway.

I've been in a single form now for the last 6 years and it's so much better to have complete control. I don't even think it's much more time-wise now (although it was to start with) because I only do things that are useful to me directly.