Saffron Teaching School Hub Blog Feed - Spotlight on Evidence

Updated EEF Guidance Report: Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 09:44:35 GMT

Developing pupils’ metacognitive and self-regulatory capacity is still ranked among the most impactful evidence-informed teaching and learning strategies.

In the continually updated EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit it is judged as ‘high impact... based on extensive evidence’.

^{Source: EEF Teaching and Learning Toolkit}

Metacognition and Self-Regulated Learning | EEF

Published in November 2025, the EEF’s updated guidance report offers teachers and senior leaders practical advice on the most effective strategies for supporting pupils to develop their metacognitive skills and knowledge. It is based on a broader range of evidence than the previous version – some 355 sources.

EEF Guidance Report: SEN in Mainstream Schools

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 14:32:41 GMT

DfE statistics on pupils with SEN document the year-on-year increase in the number of pupils with special educational needs. Meeting the needs of these pupils presents a significant, and increasing, challenge for schools. It is not surprising, therefore, that the EEF Special Education Needs in Mainstream Schools Guidance Report is currently one of the most frequently accessed documents on its website.

EEF Guidance Report: Deployment of Teaching Assistants

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 16:37:47 GMT

We all know that school budgets are feeling squeezed at the moment and the moment and in many cases this is having an impact on the availability of support from Teaching Assistants in our classrooms – a situation compounded by the rise in SEN which means that what TA capacity is available is understandably prioritised to supporting the additional needs of these children.

It is therefore perhaps more important than ever that this precious resource is used as effectively as possible, which means the recent publication of the updated EEF guide to the Deployment of Teaching Assistants (updated version published March 2025) is very timely. It is based on a systematic study and synthesis of 52 research studies.

Do we need to talk - about oracy?

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:21:08 GMT

Published on 8 October 2024, the Commission on the Future of Oracy Education in England’s We Need To Talk report makes the case that oracy should be viewed in education as the fourth “R”, equal in status to reading, writing and arithmetic.

The Commission’s report states that learning to, through and about talk is key to the preparation of children as future citizens and calls for teachers to be given more training on oracy education, based on evidence of ‘what works’. This article will explore the headlines of the Report’s case for oracy, its recommendations for action, and consider possible actions for schools and settings in response.

Essex Research School's Leadership Series - Effective Professional Development

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:21:26 GMT

Essex Research School has launched a professional development (PD) leadership series focusing on strategies for leaders in designing and implementing effective PD to improve outcomes for all learners.

The series aims to provide practical guidance and evidence-based strategies for school leaders to develop effective PD that enhances teaching quality and positively impact student outcomes.

Clips from the Classroom - supporting the development of teaching and learning

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:21:48 GMT

How many times when attending – or even leading – training have we thought ‘I wish there was a way of seeing what it actually looks like in practice'? A resultant search for video clips can take many hours, and also lead us down many rabbit holes.

Beneath the surface of cognitive science

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:22:04 GMT

Working memory, cognitive load, dual coding, spaced retrieval….the language and theory of cognitive science and its application to teaching and learning in schools is high profile at the current time, and justifiably so. The EEF is a very useful starting point for schools looking for comprehensive, yet accessible, guidance and support. This Spotlight summarises the range of materials that are available, in a variety of formats.

Essex Research School

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 16:23:32 GMT

Essex Research School is based at Lyons Hall Primary School in Braintree. Lyons Hall is one of the three schools that make up the Learning Pathways Trust and is a relatively new Research School having launched in 2023. Its director is Kate Alliston, a primary teacher with over 20 years’ experience.

REACHout Early Years Stronger Practice Hub - East of England

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:22:41 GMT

The Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs programme was launched in November 2022 and is part of the DfE's Early Years Education COVID-19 Recovery Package. The REACHout East of England Stronger Practice Hub, based in Halstead, Essex is holding a launch event in Chelmsford on 22 November 2023. The programme aims to support settings to address the impact of the pandemic on young children by sharing effective practice and building lasting local networks.

Effective Professional Development

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:23:00 GMT

The research tells us that professional development for teachers works – if it is well designed, carefully selected and robustly implemented. For busy teachers and practitioners, it needs to be worth the investment of time and energy. That is why it is so important to look at the evidence on ‘what works’ for teacher learning.

Take part in research projects and access funding through the EEF

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:23:17 GMT

The Education Endowment Foundation provides access to a vast amount of existing educational research and guidance of evidence led practice. However, not everyone is aware that it also offers opportunities to take part in research trials or to apply for funding for your own locally based project.

Evidence for the early years - new support and resources for professionals working in schools, nurseries and other early years settings from the EEF

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:23:35 GMT

This Spotlight focuses on a new Early Years resource area launched by the Education Endowment Foundation in February. This marks a big step forward in their mission to support early years practitioners by providing the most up-to-date evidence about how effective different approaches are likely to be on children’s learning and development. This evidence supports practitioners to “make decisions about how to make the most of the adults in your setting to create great learning opportunities for all your children, particularly those from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.”

Evidence Into Action – the EEF podcast series

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:23:55 GMT

This Spotlight article, rather than exploring a single piece of research, focuses on the EEF’s Evidence into Action podcast series.

The skills imperative 2035: Essential skills for tomorrow’s workforce

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:24:36 GMT

In this Spotlight, we temporarily move away from the world of specific pedagogical research to a wider topic which is currently being explored by NfER in a 5-year research programme - The skills imperative 2035: Essential skills for tomorrow’s workforce.

Great Teaching Toolkit Evidence Review

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 10:25:00 GMT

This Spotlight article focuses on a resource first published in June 2020 but which may well have been overlooked by teachers and leaders as they necessarily dedicated huge amounts of time and effort to coping with the challenges of day-to-day survival in a pandemic.

Moving forwards, making a difference

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:14:10 GMT

"For two years, schools have been grappling with real uncertainty. Questions from whether they would be open one day to the next, to how best to support learning, both remotely and in-class, have loomed large over daily life in schools. Amidst these challenges, teachers and school leaders have worked tirelessly to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic on the children and young people in their care. Initially, they did so whilst working without a map, lacking evidence of how their pupils’ learning had been affected. However, over time, studies have been conducted and research evidence published. This has enabled us to begin to piece together a more robust understanding of how partial school closures have affected children, and the measures that will need to be taken to facilitate their recovery and move learning forwards.”

Social and Emotional Learning in Primary Schools

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:29:09 GMT

“Upon returning to the classroom after partial school closures, staff reported that a significant proportion of children were demonstrating noticeably poorer interpersonal skills than they had prior to partial school closures. Specifically, children were increasingly struggling to take turns talking, engage meaningfully with talk partners and respectfully listen to their peers. We were keen to address this head on in order to re-establish the safe, calm learning environments teachers had worked to create with their pupils previously.

To do so, we looked to the EEF Social and Emotional Learning in Primary Schools guidance report, and decided to focus our efforts around Recommendation 1 which asks us to consider how we teach SEL skills explicitly. We resolved to plan regular teaching time which would target two of the five CASEL SEL core competencies, social awareness and relationship skills.”

Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:28:47 GMT

The number of full-time equivalent TAs more than trebled in the period from 2000 to 2018, when the second edition of Making Best Use of Teaching Assistants was published. By that point Teaching Assistants comprised over a quarter of the workforce in mainstream schools in England: 35% of the primary workforce, and 14% of the secondary school workforce.

EEF launches updated version of the Improving Literacy in KS2 Guidance Report

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:28:02 GMT

The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) published this ‘second phase’ Guidance Report in November 2021, including additional examples, explanations and resources to support implementation of the 7 original core recommendations. You can access the report and associated resources here: Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2 | EEF

Metacognition and self-regulation - high impact, low cost

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:26:35 GMT

“Self-regulated learners are aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and can motivate themselves to engage in, and improve, their learning”

Since as far back as 2011, the EEF has reported on the positive and value for money impact of metacognitive approaches on pupil learning in its Teaching and Learning Toolkit. More recently, it has been identified as one of the four core elements in Essex Local Authority's “Addressing Educational Disadvantage” Strategy (Addressing Educational Disadvantage in Schools and Colleges: the Essex Way, Ed. Marc Rowland, John Catt 2021).

In this Spotlight, we explore the guidance available from the Education Endowment Foundation to support schools in developing metacognition at the core of practice, including some often overlooked tools and resources.

Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 11:26:11 GMT

In June 2021, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) published a Guidance Report entitled 'Teacher Feedback to Improve Pupil Learning'. In this article, we summarise its key recommendations. You can view and download the report and summary poster here.