On this episode of Mind the Gap, Tom Sherrington and Emma Turner are joined by Shaun Allison and Andy Tharby from Durrington High School to revisit the enduring influence of their landmark book Making Every Lesson Count, 11 years on. Together they reflect on how the book’s six principles - challenge, explanation, modelling, practice, feedback, and questioning- emerged from real classroom and whole-school practice, and why they continue to offer such a powerful, practical language for improving teaching. Shaun and Andy discuss how their thinking has evolved over time, how the principles still shape practice at Durrington, and what it takes to build a culture where getting better never stops. They also consider what ideas and strategies they would include and exclude if the book were written now, given the strides that have been made in the last decade. Listen to find out whether we can expect a Making Every Lesson Count, Volume II.
Shaun Allison is the co-Headteacher of Durrington High School. He joined Durrington High School in 2010 as Deputy Headteacher and up until 2022, was also the Director of the Research School there. Throughout his career, he has worked in large, coastal strip comprehensive schools. Shaun's particular areas of interest are evidence informed approaches to curriculum, teaching and assessment and using strong evaluation, professional development and implementation to drive school improvement.
Andy Tharby is an English teacher and blogger with over a decade of classroom experience at Durrington High School. He is interested in how teachers can use the evidence from educational research to develop their professional expertise. Andy believes that the way students learn remains unchanged and that great teaching is timeless.
Tom Sherrington has worked in schools as a teacher and leader for 30 years and is now a consultant specialising in teacher development and curriculum & assessment planning. He regularly contributes to conferences and CPD sessions locally and nationally and is busy working in schools and colleges across the UK and around the world. Follow Tom on X @teacherhead
Emma Turner FCCT is a school improvement advisor, education consultant, trainer and author. She has almost three decades of primary teaching, headship and leadership experience across the sector, working and leading in both MATs and LAs. She works nationally and internationally on school improvement including at single school level and at scale. She has a particular interest in research informed practice in the primary phase, early career development, and CPD design. Follow Emma on X @emma_turner75
This podcast is sponsored by Teaching WalkThrus and produced in association with Haringey Education Partnership. Find out more at https://walkthrus.co.uk/ and https://haringeyeducationpartnership.co.uk/
