This is not meant to be painting by numbers. You will see from the detail of the many outstanding lessons featured on this site that there are many and varied ways of teaching an excellent lesson in KS4 history. Having seen hundreds of outstanding lessons whilst inspecting secondary history, I thought it would be worthwhile sharing some of my key findings with you. To stop it becoming a sterile list, I have also added a little personal flavouring
Lists such as these are only useful up to a point. They do highlight what is characteristically present in lessons judged as outstanding, but much depends on how these different ingredients are blended together. Generic advice on teaching and learning can be found in the sections called the teaching process and the learning process, but your most useful port of call will be the Outstanding Lessons section where you will find best practice exemplified in a context that will make this worthy list really come alive.
Probably the best indicator of an outstanding lesson is one where ALL pupils, especially those at the ends of the attainment range, make very good progress. Some do exceptionally well and none are left behind. I
