What does great teaching actually look like — and are schools sometimes turning good ideas into rigid routines?
Most heads aren't short on effort when it comes to attendance.
The harder truth: so much of it often rests on one or two people — and when that's the case, it never feels steady, however hard everyone works.
That's the work I do. I run a funded Senior Attendance & Leadership Resilience Check for headteachers and trust leaders in complex schools.
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- On-site school visit
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In this episode of Headship After Hours, Paul Collin is joined by Tom Sherrington, former headteacher, author, educator and creator of Teaching WalkThrus, for a wide-ranging conversation about teaching, professional development, behaviour, inclusion and what school leaders need to understand about improving classroom practice.
Tom explores the continuing influence of Rosenshine's Principles of Instruction — and what Rosenshine might think about the way his ideas are being implemented in schools today.
The conversation goes beyond individual teaching strategies to a much bigger leadership question:
How do we create enough structure for every child to participate without turning good teaching into a compliance exercise?
Tom argues that structure and warmth aren't opposites. In the strongest classrooms, clear boundaries can create the conditions for freedom, relationships and joy.
Paul and Tom discuss:
- What Rosenshine's Principles actually mean
- Where schools can misinterpret research
- Why implementation often becomes mechanical before becoming sophisticated
- Retrieval practice and instructional coaching
- Why inclusive teaching requires structure
- Behaviour, boundaries and relationships
- Why strict classrooms don't have to be fearful classrooms
- Oracy and pupil participation
- Checking the understanding of every learner
- Formative action
- What great teaching could look like in 2035
- Why professional development needs to move away from judgement
- Creating a culture of collective professional improvement
Tom also makes a powerful case for systematically involving every student, rather than allowing classroom participation to be dominated by the pupils most willing to volunteer.
For headteachers and senior leaders, this conversation is ultimately about creating the conditions in which excellent teaching can happen consistently — without losing professional judgement, relationships or humanity.
🎙️ Headship After Hours — honest conversations about school leadership and the realities of leading education.
Timestamps
00:00 – Why Discipline and Warm Relationships Can Coexist
00:58 – Introducing Tom Sherrington
02:34 – Tom's Journey From Physics Teacher to Headteacher
04:06 – What Are Rosenshine's Principles?
08:44 – Are Schools Getting Rosenshine Wrong?
13:10 – When Good Ideas Become Too Mechanical
17:42 – Why Inclusive Teaching Needs Structure
20:20 – Behaviour, Boundaries & Relationships
22:33 – Can Schools Become Over-Engineered?
26:51 – What Will Great Teaching Look Like in 2035?
28:09 – The Future Is Inclusive Teaching
30:20 – Why Oracy Matters
32:58 – From Formative Assessment to Formative Action
35:30 – The Ideas Influencing Tom's Thinking Now
42:18 – Tom's Advice to School Leaders
44:44 – Where to Find Tom
