Caught on Camera – Turning Worry into Excitement

Before the pandemic, our school’s teaching and learning culture was marked by secrecy and suspicion. Learning walks were covert operations—with observers looking through windows and ducking away if spotted, this fear-driven climate limited professional growth.

When COVID-19 forced the school to pause and rethink, a newly appointed Head Teacher stepped in to guide the school into a new chapter. Teaching and learning was prioritised, there was expert-led CPD, the launch of weekly briefings, and increased transparency through regular learning walks. Gradually, a more open, collaborative ethos emerged. IRIS Connect sat quietly in the background, used occasionally to showcase good practice, but met with scepticism. Some believed they were not advanced for tech; others dismissed it as a passing fad.

At the same time, we were exploring how to embed Instructional Coaching. It became clear that video could be the game-changer. As Gaudin & Chaliès (2015) note, video supports deep teacher reflection and fosters peer dialogue, especially when teachers learn to “notice” more effectively. To get staff comfortable, we encouraged them to record one reflection by the end of a half term. Then we introduced a light-hearted departmental competition for each term. Curiosity sparked, and engagement grew.

IRIS Connect quickly became a cornerstone of our new coaching model. We shifted away from formal, high-stakes observations and introduced six half-termly coaching drop-ins. Staff were encouraged to record and share lesson reflections using IRIS Connect, and engagement quickly grew as teachers embraced the flexibility and autonomy it offered. This low-pressure, peer-led approach made professional development not only more accessible but also more meaningful. Research by Kraft et al. (2018) supports this shift, showing that regular, low-stakes feedback cycles lead to sustained improvements in teaching practice. For our split-site school, IRIS Connect proved particularly valuable, it enabled cross-site collaboration and overcoming the logistical challenges of clashing timetables.

The benefits of coaching in collaboration with IRIS Connect were immediate and tangible. Teachers began to reflect more deeply, drawing on real classroom footage to refine their practice. As Timperley et al. (2007) argue, evidence-informed inquiry cycles support meaningful professional growth and IRIS Connect made that evidence accessible. Coaching conversations became sharper and more focused. Teachers no longer had to rely on memory or guesswork; they had concrete examples to discuss and dissect. IRIS Connect recordings have also become a fundamental part of all training sessions so teachers can see strategies in action. This has helped teachers become familiar with video and removed the option of teachers being able to dismiss strategies by saying ‘that wouldn’t work in our school’.

To sustain momentum, a group of teachers created short ‘How-To’ videos on an IRIS Connect Group to model techniques, celebrate wins and support deliberate practice. As Cordingley et al. (2015) emphasise, sustained, reflective CPD has the greatest impact when it’s embedded in real classroom contexts, and this is exactly what IRIS Connect enabled us to do. From restorative conversations to guided practice, these short clips brought CPD to life. Teachers could see strategies in action, reflect on their impact, and adapt them confidently to suit their own classrooms. This aligns with the EEF’s (2021) view that high-quality CPD should involve clear modelling, time to practise, and sustained support. The growing bank of videos has now transformed CPD into a personalised experience—teachers can choose content that aligns with their individual development goals, access it at a time that suits them, and revisit it as needed to support continuous improvement.