Sign-Off Visit
Your Innovator visits a lesson to decide your next step. It asks one question: would the ordinary RAISE cycle be enough support from here, or would more focused mentoring help first?
In this stage
Stage 8 · Sign-Off Visit
Visit: 30 minutesWhat this is for: Your Innovator visits a lesson to decide your next step. It asks one question: would the ordinary RAISE cycle be enough support from here, or would more focused mentoring help first?
By the end, you can
- Show how you've worked on your 2 focus points, with an example
- Plan a lesson where both key areas can be seen: Nobody left out and Check they've got it
- Talk through your own lesson before hearing feedback
What to do
- Step 1: Agree the lesson with your Innovator: one where you explain or show something and learners practise it, so Nobody left out and Check they've got it can both be seen in the 30 minutes.
- Step 2: Plan it in , with checking understanding and support for learners planned in. Run it through Unpick if you would like a second look.
- Step 3: Teach as normal. Afterwards, say first what you noticed, then hear the feedback.
- How you'll know you're done:
- The "I can" check at the end.
Look back
This is your chance to show how far you've come.
Read your Visit 1 feedback again. Look at your 2 focus points and what you've done on them since. Then think about how you'll show that progress in your lesson.
Your focus points and Visit 1 feedback are in the Word document from your Focus Points email.
Not sure what to write? Your Innovator is always happy to help.
My progress story
Focus point: Check every learner's understanding.
At Visit 1: I only asked the learners who put their hands up.
What I changed: Mini whiteboards after each step of the demonstration.
What my learners do now: Everyone answers, and I reteach the step when several get it wrong.
Don't write learners' names or any safeguarding details here. Use the Cause for Concern form for those.
Your Innovator judges progress by what learners do. Make the last box about your learners, not you.
Get ready for your sign-off visit
1 Read each point. 2 Choose Ready or I'd like help. 3 Open a tip if you need one.
0 of 16 ready
I can explain my 2 focus points and why they matter for my learners.
Open the Word document from your Focus Points email. Read your Visit 1 feedback again too.
I have tried something for each focus point with my learners.
It doesn't need to be big. One change you've kept doing counts.
I have an example of progress to bring.
A piece of learner work, a resource, or something learners now do without being asked. Add it to My progress story.
I have done some CPD linked to my focus points.
Try the WalkThru linked to your focus point, or ask your Innovator where to start.
I have read the lesson visit criteria again, including what exceptional looks like.
It's on the next screen, What the visit looks at.
I have planned my lesson in LEAD.
Lesson Weaver builds your plan around LEAD. Use the notes section to say what your learners need. Then run it through Unpick for a second look.
My lesson has SMART objectives, and I know how every learner will show they've met them.
Share them in Launch and come back to them in Demonstrate, so learners see how far they've come. Not sure? Try the SMART objectives checker in Lesson Weaver.
My lesson starts promptly, with clear routines and a check on what learners already know.
Launch covers a prompt start, clear expectations and checking prior knowledge.
Key areaI know my learners' needs and have planned support for them.
Check EBS for support needs before you plan. Digital Companion scaffolds learning activities for every learner.
Key areaI have planned how I'll check every learner's understanding, not only those who volunteer.
Plan two moments where every learner answers at once. MS Forms and Edpuzzle show you every answer straight away. Decide what you'll do if the answers show a gap.
I have planned how I'll stretch and challenge my learners.
Ask why and how questions, not just what. Digital Companion has stretch and challenge built in.
I have thought about where a Big 4 tool could support learning.
Additional Resources on bradfordbig4.online has step by step guides and cheat sheets for each tool.
I've agreed the lesson with my Innovator, so Nobody left out and Check they've got it can both be seen in the 30 minutes.
Fill in Show me where, in this stage, and share it when you agree the lesson.
I know what I'd like feedback on.
Tell your Innovator when you agree the lesson.
I'm ready to talk through my lesson first, before hearing feedback.
Think about what went well, what you'd change, and how it links to your focus points.
I know what happens after the visit.
See On the day, and after, in this stage.
What the visit looks at
Read the lesson visit criteria again.
These are the same six areas from Stage 4. Read what good looks like, then open what exceptional looks like to see where you can go next.
Nobody left outNeeds Green or above at sign-off.
Teaching reflects who is in the room. Adjustments are planned, and adapted as the lesson goes.
Nobody left out and Check they've got it both need Green or above.
- AmberOne Amber area is fine if the practice is there but not yet consistent. It becomes your RAISE target.
- GreenGreen is the bar.
- BlueBlue is not needed.
See the full detail in Stage 4, What every lesson visit looks at.
Show me where
Your visit is 30 minutes. Plan where your Innovator will see both key areas, so nothing is missed.
Don't write learners' names or any safeguarding details here. Use the Cause for Concern form for those.
Nobody left out (Inclusion and SEND)
Where will your Innovator see support planned in for learners who need it?
Where will they see you adapt when someone is stuck?
Check they've got it (Formative assessment)
Where will every learner answer at once? Plan two moments. Pick a stage, so your Innovator knows where to look.
What will you do if the answers show a gap?
My plan in one line
Nobody left out: … Check they've got it: …
Make sure these fall inside the 30 minutes you agree with your Innovator. Share this with your Innovator when you agree the lesson.
On the day, and after
Before
- Agree the lesson with your Innovator.
- Share your Show me where plan, and what you'd like feedback on.
On the day
- Teach as normal. One Innovator watches for 30 minutes.
- They use the same six areas and descriptors as every RAISE visit. Nothing is softened for new starters.
After
- You talk first: what went well, what you'd change, and how it links to your focus points.
- Then you hear the feedback, and your Innovator tells you the outcome at the same meeting.
- You agree the next step together before you leave.
There are three possible outcomes. Your Innovator explains yours, and plans the next step with you, at the meeting.
Ready for RAISE
What it means: No more than one Amber area. Nobody left out and Check they've got it are both Green or above. Any Amber is practice that is there but not yet consistent.
What happens next: You move into STEP AHEAD. If you have an Amber area, it becomes your RAISE target.
Further mentoring
What it means: Two or more Amber areas, either key area at Amber, or an Amber for impact on learners in any area.
What happens next: You move into STEP UP with your Innovator, then have a second sign-off visit.
Revisit
What it means: The visit did not show enough to decide, for example a key area was not seen.
What happens next: The visit is repeated. It is neither a pass nor a fail.
Further mentoring is a different level of support. Your Innovator plans with you, shows you, and visits more often.
- Create
- Evaluate
- Analyse
- Apply
- Understand
- Remember
There are no right answers here. Honest answers help most.
A colleague plans a sign-off lesson where learners mostly listen and take notes.
STOP: Which of the six areas would be hardest to see in that lesson?
Dig deeper: Why, and does it matter?
Don't write learners' names or any safeguarding details here. Use the Cause for Concern form (opens in a new tab) for those.
Before you move on
By the end, you can
- I can show how I've worked on my 2 focus points, with an example.
- I can show where Nobody left out and Check they've got it will both be seen in my lesson.
- I can talk through my own lesson before hearing feedback.
Finish the stage, including the I can check, to complete it.