What’s special about this course?
Rich with curriculum expertise from your trainer, real school examples, takeaway resources and practical tasks to apply the skills you learn, this course will get you feeling truly confident and in control of your subject. And with regular opportunities to collaborate with peers who lead the same subject as you, you’ll leave with your very own support network to lean on long after the final class.
Course schedule
Class 1
Tuesday 17 June 2025
4pm to 5.30pm
Live, on Zoom
Your role as a subject leader
Master the fundamentals of how to:
- Lead your curriculum
- Set the strategic direction and vision for your subject
- Implement evidence-informed changes to make a difference for your subject
Class 2
Tuesday 24 June 2025
4pm to 5.30pm
Live, on Zoom
How to design your curriculum
Get the skills to confidently:
- Decide what to teach
- Sequence your curriculum coherently
- Codify and communicate your curriculum
Class 3
Tuesday 1 July 2025
4pm to 5.30pm
Live, on Zoom
Leading teaching and learning in your subject
Learn how to:
- Identify what ‘good’ teaching and learning looks like in your subject and develop your teachers to deliver this
- Review your assessment measures: are they robust, appropriate and working well?
- Monitor and evaluate the quality and impact of teaching in your subject, in a confident and supportive way
Class 4
Tuesday 8 July 2025
4pm to 5.30pm
Live, on Zoom
Action planning for sustainable change in your subject
In this supportive, workshop-style class, you’ll build on your learnings and reflections from classes 1 to 3 to create an effective action plan for your own subject.
Plus, you’ll learn how to talk confidently about your subject, to everyone from parents to governors.
Your expert course trainer
Alex Pethick is director of curriculum for the Knowledge Schools Trust. She oversees the design of the Primary Knowledge Curriculum, and joined the trust as the deputy headteacher for West London Free School Primary and Earl’s Court Free School Primary. She has taught in both rural Suffolk and inner-city London.
Alex has supported hundreds of subject leaders nationally and internationally, and is soon to publish a book for history subject leaders as part of Bloomsbury’s ‘How to Lead It’ series.
Alex has also led this highly popular course twice before, with participants saying she was “engaging, positive and effective” and praising her “informal, yet professional style”.
You can connect with Alex on LinkedIn.
Who can attend
This course is for you if you’re:
- Feeling new to subject leadership or co-ordination
- Aspiring to a subject leadership role any time soon
Relevant to primary phases in all settings.
This course is exclusively available to The Key's Whole School members. If you're not yet a Whole School member,
find out more here.
More reasons to love this course
Your live classes won't be lectures. Alex will engage the class, invite discussion and prompt peer discussion activities. You'll learn by doing, with practical tasks between classes and regular feedback from the trainer and your class colleagues.
Learning virtually doesn't mean learning solo. This course is designed to be rich in energising interaction between you and your colleagues – it's your safe space to ask questions, seek peer feedback, and make connections for life.
Leave with your own set of resources to use in school, in your role. New resources shared after every class, to help you apply what you’ve learnt immediately.
Complete your classes and get a certificate of achievement from The Key for your learning record.