This week, Jen and Francis dive into Teachers' Standard 1: set high expectations for all pupils. It's not as a slogan, but as daily practice. We unpack what high expectations actually look like in lessons, marking, and conversations, and how to keep challenge from turning into anxiety.

Jen shares how an English teacher in America helped her understand the impact of dyslexia on her writing, reframing “ability” into strategy and belief. Francis draws on leadership lessons about setting ambitious, realistic targets and applies them to the classroom, balancing absolute standards with relative expectations for individuals.

We explore routines, language, feedback, and metacognitive reflection (plan–monitor–evaluate) that build a culture of productive struggle. Plus, we each set a Teacher Stretch Goal to model what ambition and reflection look like for pupils.