ABSTRACT
The phrase ‘without unnecessarily elaborate or differentiated approaches’ is slipped in almost as an afterthought, and has caused immense confusion. As inspectors struggled to discuss lessons without mentioning differentiation, teachers quickly picked up on their confusion and assumed that differentiation had become a somewhat dubious concept. Ofsted’s guidance provides a sensible antidote to this approach. Teachers are now urged not to spend hours on ‘unnecessarily elaborate or differentiated approaches’ but they should nevertheless differentiate to ensure that every pupil in the class is able to make progress in their learning. Teachers need to think carefully about curriculum content and how it can be adapted to meet pupils’ needs. They need to be able to check on learning regularly to identify potential learning gaps so that they can modify the few teaching episodes. Learning intentions are key: teachers need to ensure that they communicate to all pupils the expectation that they should all be thinking deeply and pushing their learning.
