The Elements

At Trinity Academy Cathedral, the quality of teaching and learning remains the single most important thing that we do, and we are committed to delivering this to every child, in every lesson, throughout every day. We plan and deliver lessons through an effective teaching and learning model called The Elements. The Elements incorporate what we hold to be the key ingredients of successful teaching and learning: Cognition, Subject Passion and Expertise, Pitch and Challenge, Focus and Purpose, Talk and Questioning and Reflect and Respond.

We believe expert teachers habitually practise the ‘Elements’ and evaluate their own strengths and areas for development in light of this framework. Our Expert Teacher programme aims to enable all staff to develop into ‘expert teachers’ who deliver consistently high-quality lessons, leading to outstanding outcomes for all learners, unlocking their future pathways. Through our high-quality CPD offer, we ensure continual engagement with research driven methods so that staff and students benefit from evidence informed practice.

The document below outlines our expectations for how each Element should be seen in the classroom for ‘every student, every lesson, every day’. Questions are also posed here, to support teachers with their planning.

The ‘walk thru’ for each Element looks more deeply at why each of these Elements are essential for expert teaching and learning, and how to implement key pedagogical strategies. There is no generic ‘walk thru’ for Subject Passion and Expertise, as this looks different for every subject area.