Before you plan your lesson, however, you need to know exactly what it is that makes learning outstanding in your setting. What are the magic ingredients that will make your lesson brilliant for your learners (and, incidentally, outstanding in the eyes of an observer)? In the same way that you would not expect your learners to successfully complete a task or assignment without knowing what success looks like, you need to know exactly what an outstanding lesson looks like.

The most significant feature of outstanding learning is the progress that learners make. Some of the other essential ingredients that will make your FE lesson outstanding include:

This may feel difficult at first but, over time, you and your learners will develop the habits of outstanding learning. This means that when the inspector does arrive, they will just see you doing what you usually do – teaching a highly effective lesson.

One factor to bear in mind: planning a brilliant lesson does not mean writing a long, detailed lesson plan. Lesson plans are useful in that they set out what you want your learners to learn and how you intend to achieve this. You need to set clear objectives and assess whether these have been achieved, but keep it smart and simple. Remember also that the lesson needs to deliver progress for all – and that takes planning. As all teachers know, very few lesson plans survive the reality of the learners, so you should regard your plan as a flexible framework for learning, rather than something to be slavishly followed. When it comes to observations, inspectors are looking for well-planned lessons rather than extensive lesson plans – they will make judgements on what they observe rather than what they read.

The rest of this chapter will give you information on how to effectively plan your outstanding lesson, and the remaining chapters will provide you with more detail to explore when you need it.

It is essential to bear in mind that there is no set formula for any lesson or learning. The only thing that really matters is the learning that is taking place and the progress each individual learner is making.