This guide provides practical options to support the planning of a sustainable approach to drop-ins. There is no single model schools should work towards. The right starting point depends on the time, expertise and culture already in place. Begin with something you can run well, then widen or adapt the approach if it is useful to do so.
Who should complete drop-ins in your school?
Start with the people who can currently recognise the agreed teaching practice and provide useful feedback. Also consider how familiar and comfortable staff are with low-stakes lesson visits.
Starting model | This may be appropriate when… | Consider widening when… |
Volunteer or pilot group | A small number of staff are keen to try the approach, or lesson visits still feel sensitive. | The pilot is working well and other staff understand the purpose and are interested in taking part. |
Lead practitioner or T&L team | Expertise is strongest within your team of T&L specialists, or there is anxiety around lesson visits from senior or middle leaders. | A culture of developmental drop-ins feedback is established and others have been trained to provide consistently useful feedback. |
Senior leaders | Expertise is mainly within the SLT, or leaders are still developing a shared language for effective teaching. | Other leaders have been trained and can provide consistently useful feedback. |
Senior and middle leaders | Middle leaders understand the shared language and can recognise and accurately describe the agreed practice. | The approach is working consistently and there is value in involving a wider group. |
Teacher peer drop-ins | Staff are familiar with low-stakes lesson visits and have the expertise to recognise and discuss effective practice. | Peer drop-ins are well established and some staff are ready for more developmental support or coaching. |
You do not need to move through these models in order. A leader-led approach may remain the right model for your school. Widen participation only where it adds value and you have the time, expertise and culture to support it.
How will you create enough time for drop-ins to happen consistently?
Once you know who will take part, decide how often drop-ins need to happen and where the time could come from. Avoid relying on people simply finding gaps in their week.
Starting model | Possible structure | Where the time might come from |
Volunteer or pilot group | A small number of visits over a half-term. | Existing release or a few planned cover windows. |
Lead practitioner or T&L team | For example, one short visit per week linked to the current PD goal. | Existing release or planned joint visits. |
Senior leaders | For example, two short visits per leader each week or a short drop-ins sprint. | Leadership time, natural movement around school or protected weekly slots. |
Senior and middle leaders | A small number of regular visits linked to the current PD goal. | Existing leadership release or planned joint visits. |
Teacher peer drop-ins | For example, one focused peer visit per teacher each half-term. | Existing non-contact time, specialist teaching, enrichment or planned release. |
Treat these as starting points rather than expectations. Finding time for PD is rarely straightforward, and every school context is different. Once you have a starting model and rough structure in mind, use the practical options below - drawn from ideas across Steplab schools - to work out what could fit your context.
Leader drop-ins – possible ways to make time
Approach | How leaders make the time | What this could look like | Best for |
Use a 2 x 5 model | Each leader protects two 5-minute slots per week. | A deputy does two 5-minute drop-ins each week, looking only at the current PD step: select appropriate questions for paired talk. | Busy leaders who need a realistic weekly rhythm. |
Use natural movement around school | Build drop-ins into moments when leaders are already moving around the building. | After assembly, the headteacher visits two classrooms for 5 minutes to see how students transition back into learning. | Schools where leaders are already visible around school. |
Combine with existing priorities | Leaders align drop-ins with moments when they are already committed to being in classrooms. | A science leader who wants to see the new Year 7 curriculum being delivered completes a drop-in on the current PD step when in each Year 7 classroom.
A pastoral leader who wants to monitor a specific student in English lessons completes a drop-in on the current PD step when in the classroom. | Busy leaders who are already in and out of multiple classrooms each week. |
Start with a small, ready group | Leaders begin with ECTs, keen volunteers, SLT members with teaching commitments, or teachers already open to developing the focus. | In the first half-term, leaders run drop-ins with three teachers who are keen to trial the process. They use what they learn to refine the approach before widening it. | Schools where classroom visits may feel sensitive, or where leaders want to build momentum before scaling. |
Run a drop-ins sprint | Instead of weekly drop-ins all term, run a short burst after group PD. | After a staff meeting on paired talk routines, leaders complete six short drop-ins over two weeks, then review patterns and run a small practice tweak in the next meeting. | Schools where leaders have teaching commitments or limited flexible time. |
Share the focus across leaders | Leaders divide up what they are looking for, so no one has to see everything. | Headteacher visits humanities lessons, deputy visits maths and science lessons, SENCO looks at students needing additional support — all are focused on the same PD step. | Schools with several leaders but limited individual capacity. |
Repurpose meeting time | Senior and middle leaders build a short visit into their existing line management meeting. This works where meetings are embedded in the school day. | One of the assistant heads line-manages art. During a line management meeting, the assistant head and the head of art visit two art lessons for 5 minutes to complete drop-ins on the current PD step. | Schools with regular line management meetings, where they want to build shared knowledge with middle leaders. |
Teacher peer drop-ins – possible ways to create release:
Approach | How the release works | What this could look like | Best for |
Use existing professional release | Build a short visit into existing release time planned for teachers, ECTs, mentors, curriculum leaders, pastoral leaders, teaching assistants or SENDCOs. | During their KS3 maths curriculum lead release time, the KS3 maths lead visits two classes for 5 minutes to see whether paired talk is supporting mathematical reasoning. | Schools where leaders or developing teachers already have some release time. |
Use leader micro-cover | A headteacher, deputy, assistant head, curriculum leader, pastoral leader or SENDCO covers a class for 5–10 minutes so the teacher can see one specific practice. | The deputy covers a Year 10 history class for 8 minutes while the teacher visits another teacher to see entry routines. Students are completing an independent task. | Schools where leaders can create a small number of planned release windows. |
Use assembly time creatively | A teacher is released for a short, focused visit. This can work especially well if assembly times are staggered, or the teacher is visiting a tutor time session. | Year 11 assembly runs from 8:00–8:30. One Year 11 tutor drops their tutor group at assembly and uses the subsequent 8 minutes to visit a Year 9 tutor group before rejoining assembly to support dismissal. | Schools with regular assemblies and clear supervision arrangements. |
Create planned release windows across the half-term | Leaders timetable a small number of short release slots rather than trying to release everyone at once. | Each senior leader has an assigned group of teaching staff. The senior leaders cover their assigned teachers for 10 minutes each during the half-term (e.g., one per week). Across the half-term, each teacher completes one drop-in. | Schools wanting every teacher to complete one drop-in without creating a heavy cover burden. |
Repurpose meeting time | Build a short visit into an existing, related meeting. This works where group meetings are embedded into the school day. | The languages department meeting is during period 2 each Tuesday. During one meeting, all language teachers visit a lesson in another department for 5 minutes, and return to the meeting to discuss what they saw. | Schools with regular department meeting time. |
A quick note for small schools
Small schools will usually need a lighter version of this. If there are only a few teachers, the aim is not to recreate a large-school drop-ins system on a smaller scale.
You might start with:
one drop-in per teacher per half-term
a leader briefly covering a class
available cover used creatively
capturing short video examples to share in staff meetings when live drop-ins are hard to arrange
working with another small school to share examples or complete drop-ins
In small schools, success is not about the number of drop-ins. It is about whether practice is being seen, discussed and embedded across the team.
Further support
For more support planning your approach to drop-ins, see:
Example drop-ins timetable – one way group PD, leader drop-ins, peer visits and follow-up could fit together across a fortnight
Implementing Drop-ins course – step-by-step guidance on planning, launching and sustaining drop-ins
Drop-ins training – practical guidance on writing high-quality drop-ins