In Praise Of The Unit Overview (Or Why You Should Develop Yours)

When I started teaching we had three kinds of plans (of course it was three - 3-part lessons, 3-way differentiation - we loved a good three): LTPs, MTPs and STPs (or lesson plans).

I'm not sure how much that language has survived, but I'm hoping things are moving on, especially in the case of the overlooked but very important MTP.

Medium Term Plans came as a result of Medium Term Planning - an extra, long, afterschool session of planning once a half term, usually towards the end of the half term when everyone was flagging and didn't have the brain power to really come up with the best plan possible.

These were also the days when we would look at the loose overview provided by the Long Term Plan, and then plan a unit of work based on what we fancied teaching. Things would change year on year, sometimes quite drastically. It would hardly ever be based on what we knew they'd already learned, or on what they would go on to learn in the future. There was no idea of pupils getting continuity, coverage or consistency.

The MTPs we ended up creating were mostly a chronicle of activities that we wanted to do with the children.

Much later on, I discovered the unit overview. I love unit overviews. You can call them a MTP if you want, or a scheme of work, but I like the language change as it signifies that things have changed.

What is a unit overview?

• A one-stop-shop document that collates everything a teacher needs to know to be able to plan lessons

• A document containing:

  • unit title (could be a question)

  • a brief description of the unit

  • National Curriculum objectives covered (including which are being introduced, and which are being revisited)

  • school's own objectives/curriculum statements covered (including which are being introduced, and which are being revisited - these might be substantive, procedural or disciplinary knowledge statements)

  • horizon knowledge - information about how the content will be foundational later on

  • concepts covered, links to prior learning

  • key facts - exactly what you want teachers to teach and pupils to learn

  • key vocabulary, including definitions (and etymology)

  • intended final outcomes

  • overview of teaching sequence

  • links to relevant books

There may well be other things that could be included in a unit overview - anything that helps teachers to plan and teach the unit in such a way that aligns with the school's aims but provides enough autonomy for teachers to be responsive to the needs of children in their class.

Here's what one might look like:

As I outline here, a unit overview can stop short of providing information about how teachers should teach, and it doesn't need to include lesson resource ideas either. Teachers are best-placed to make these decisions.

Which leads me to ask another question on the reader's behalf:

Who should create unit overviews?

I am of the position that school leaders should be heavily involved in this process. Leaders have the privilege of seeing the bigger picture and the responsibility to ensure that things aren't happening in silos.

Ideally, teachers would be involved so that their ideas and expertise can be tapped into, and so that there is a sense of ownership over the curriculum.

Initial co-creation is the ideal, although practically it might be easier for a leader to write overviews and to then bring them to teachers for further amendments.

Speaking of amendments, it is crucial that over time, the suitability of the content of the unit overviews is reviewed by leaders and the teachers who have been working with them. Curriculum development is like painting the Forth Bridge - it's a cyclical process, never ending and the ones who know best about what might need to change is the teachers who've used the unit overviews for planning and teaching.

What's so good about unit overviews?

It's the one-stop-shopness that does it for me. I was led to develop unit overviews like the one above after realising that teachers (myself included) didn't have the time or inclination to be faffing around trying to access all the many documents that help all the necessary information for planning. I knew that there were many useful pieces of information spread across various other documents but that if it was all together in one place, teachers would be much more likely to benefit from it.

A good unit overview gives teachers exactly what they need so that they can plan review of prior content, to make links within and across subjects and year groups, well-sequenced lessons and more.

Making impactful change in your school can be overwhelming. I know - I've been there myself and have guided many other school leaders through the process. I can help you to develop your curriculum documentation so that teachers know exactly what to teach and pupils learn exactly what you want them to learn.

Your 3-step enrichment plan:

1. Drop me an email

2. Have a phone call with me to talk about your school

3. We'll work together to empower you and your staff to enhance teaching and to enrich your pupils' lives

Take a weight off your mind today - let me spin a couple of your plates!