The Mechanics of Effective Professional Development with Scott Wells episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 14, 2026 · 59 MIN

The Mechanics of Effective Professional Development with Scott Wells

from Thinking Deeply about Primary Education · host Kieran Mackle

For show notes, links, and a summary episode, sign up for the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Hey! What You Reading For ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠newsletter. Mondays at 7am BST - ⁠⁠https://tdape.beehiiv.com/subscribe⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AI For Teachers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ newsletterFor maths curriculum questions contact us ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or via ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Story of Maths⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - ⁠⁠www.alta-education.com/tsom-overview⁠⁠Episode 279: In this episode of Thinking Deeply About Primary Education, Kieran Mackle is joined by Scott Wells, Professional Learning Lead at Windsor Academy Trust, to explore what it takes to design professional development that genuinely changes classroom practice.Scott sets out a trust-wide approach to professional learning built around evidence, codification, coaching, rehearsal and careful diagnosis. The conversation explores how trusts can learn from bright spots within their own schools, how leaders can balance trust-wide clarity with school-level responsiveness, and why effective professional development must focus on more than knowledge alone.Together, Kieran and Scott discuss instructional coaching, group rehearsal, knowledge building, professional development mechanisms, adaptive expertise, and the importance of routines, belonging and predictable classrooms. Scott also explains Windsor Academy Trust’s “rhythm of the year”, including alignment, improvement and transition phases, and shares how the trust uses drop-ins, spotlight tours and coaching data to inform its next steps.This is a rich and practical episode for anyone interested in teaching and learning, school improvement, and how to make professional development meaningful at scale.

Episode metadata supplied by the publisher feed · Published Mar 14, 2026

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