A Model for Collaborative Planning

Thinking Deeply about Primary Education

Author

Kieran Mackle
December 22, 2025

A Model for Collaborative Planning

Good Morning!

This week on #TDaPE, I am joined by Lewis Sargent and Matthew Lee from Wales International School in the UAE, who have spent the last few years trying to solve a set of very familiar problems. Planning quality was patchy. Staff were arriving from a wide range of systems and training routes. Expectations were not always aligned. Some year groups were producing very strong lessons, others were struggling, and everyone was busy.

Lewis and Matt talk through how they have tried to tackle this by building a shared planning system. It is not a neat story. They are honest about the challenges. They also share what they think has gone well, particularly around workload and the quality of day to day lessons.

As always, I would love to hear what resonates in your context, or what questions it raises about your own planning systems.

A Model for Collaborative Planning with Lewis Sargent and Matthew Lee by Thinking Deeply about Primary Education

Episode 259: What happens if you stop asking every teacher to plan in isolation, stop relying on heroic individuals, and build a genuinely shared planning system across an international school? In this episode of Thinking Deeply about Primary Education, Kieran is joined by Lewis Sargent and Matthew Lee from Wales International School in the UAE to dig into the nuts and bolts of collaborative planning, PLCs and teacher workload.

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That’s all for this week. I’d love to hear what it sparks for you, or any questions it raises – leave a comment wherever you listen, or just hit reply to this email.

Until next time, thank you for listening.