Tips for using the Weekly Teacher Planning and Reflection Diary for Primary School Teachers

This article provides tips relevant to the Weekly Teacher Planning and Reflection Diary for Primary School Teachers.

Tips for using the Weekly Teacher Planning and Reflection Diary for Primary School Teachers

This diary is designed to support Australian primary teachers (Foundation to Year 6) with practical planning, assessment tracking, communication, and reflection — all in one place.

The Weekly Teaching Loop

This diary follows a weekly teaching loop adapted from the famous Butler Method that supports strong practice and helps reduce overwhelm:

1. Plan (learning intention + success criteria)
2. Teach (explicit instruction + guided practice)
3. Capture evidence (what students can do, say, and produce)
4. Reflect (what worked, what needs reteaching)
5. Adjust (support, extend, and refine)

Even if the week doesn’t go to plan (because weeks rarely do), this loop keeps your documentation clear, purposeful, and manageable.

Weekly Planning Spread

1) Start with the Weekly Planning Strip

Use the Planning Strip on the left-hand side of your planning page to map out your week before you begin filling in daily curriculum boxes.

This strip is where you record:

• Key focus/theme for the week: The main concept or priority driving your learning across subjects.
• Learning intentions: The intended learning drawn from curriculum content — what students are expected to know, understand, and be able to do.
• Success criteria: Observable indicators of learning that show students have achieved the intended learning.
• Evidence to collect: The assessment evidence you will gather to inform judgements about student learning and progress.
• Support group / targeted planning: Planned targeted teaching for identified students or focus groups based on learning needs and assessment information.
• Extension planning: Planned opportunities for students to deepen, apply, or extend their learning beyond the core expectations.
• EAL/D notes and adjustments: Language supports and adjustments that enable EAL/D learners to access curriculum content and demonstrate learning.
• Additional needs adjustments: Curriculum adjustments or accommodations that support equitable access to learning for students with additional needs.
• Meetings/appointments: Scheduled meetings, communication, or events that inform planning, assessment, and student support.

Tip: If you’re short on time, complete only the Planning Strip first. It will keep your week focused and make evidence collection easier.

2) Daily Planning Boxes (Your Curriculum Plan)

Use the daily planning boxes to plan curriculum learning across the week using the Australian Curriculum and state syllabuses. The end column allows you to capture cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities, and can also be used to capture teaching notes and adjustments.

How you plan here is completely up to you. You may just add a note of the lesson plan name, a short description or a reference.

You do not need to complete every box every day.
Only use the boxes relevant to your teaching plan that week.

3) Curriculum Links, Sessions/Times, Lesson Plans

At the bottom of each planning box, you’ll find space to record more information. This space is designed to allow you to adapt it in ways that work for you, for example:

·         Curriculum links (Australian Curriculum code or your state syllabus code) if you use these in your planning for evidence,

·         Session/time if you plan by session/period, use stickers or write session names (e.g., Session 1 = “S1”, “Middle”, “Literacy Block”, “Maths Block”) to keep your day structured in whatever way helps you manage your planning,

·         Lesson plan number or reference if you want to link your planning to your detailed lesson plans, or

·         Any other way that works for you!

This helps you keep planning aligned, supports accountability, and makes reporting and team planning easier later.

Tip: There is no right or wrong way to use this space. It is open ended to allow you to follow a system that works for your planning.

4) Evidence Collection (Plan it before you teach it)

A key feature of this diary is the evidence checklist. This allows you to plan what you’ll collect before the week begins — saving time and strengthening assessment decisions.

Tick any evidence you plan to gather. This keeps evidence collection intentional, rather than something you scramble to reconstruct later. Once collected, you might want to highlight or double tick the box.

5) Support Plans (Adjustments & Differentiation)

Use the Support Plans sections to record key adjustments and targeted planning across the week. This section is designed to help you document responsive teaching without adding extra paperwork.

Weekly Reflection Spread

Your weekly reflection pages help you close the loop and plan forward. Use these prompts to record and reflect on your week:

• What worked well this week? Effective teaching strategies or learning experiences that supported student understanding and engagement. Use this to continue or build on successful approaches next week.
• Evidence gathered this week: Assessment evidence collected that demonstrates student learning, progress, or achievement. Use this to inform professional judgement and plan next learning steps.
• Adjustments made based on data: Teaching adjustments made in response to assessment evidence or student needs. Use this to refine strategies and carry forward supports that are working.
• Student focus / follow up: Students or groups requiring continued support, extension, or monitoring. Use this to shape next week’s support plans and groupings.
• Reflection / jottings: Professional reflections on teaching impact, learning progress, or emerging needs. Use this to capture insights that guide future planning.
• Next week’s priorities: Key curriculum learning or skills needing continued focus. Use this to transfer directly into next week’s Planning Strip under focus and intentions.
• Collaboration / inquiry / moderation: Professional discussions, moderation outcomes, professional development reflections or shared planning decisions. Use this to ensure consistent expectations and inform teaching adjustments.
• Parent / community communication: Information shared with families or the community about student learning or wellbeing. Use this to support continuity between school and home learning.
• Teaching notes & adjustments: Refinements to lesson delivery, scaffolds, or resources. Use this to improve lesson design and student access to learning.
• Homework / home learning & extra-curricular: Learning activities beyond the classroom that reinforce or extend curriculum learning. Use this to strengthen links between class learning and home practice.
• Extension & enrichment planning: Opportunities for students to deepen understanding or apply learning in new ways. Use this to ensure challenge remains built into next week’s plan.
• Weekly to-do: Planning, assessment, resource preparation, or follow-up tasks. Use this to stay organised and support teaching priorities.
• Evidence / reflection: Key insights drawn from evidence about learning progress. Use this to guide professional judgement and future planning.
• Priorities: The most important teaching and learning focus areas moving forward or key tasks or actions needed this week. Use this to form the foundation of next week’s curriculum planning.

Tip: This section works well for quick notes you would otherwise write on sticky notes or scraps of paper.

Just like the weekly planning spread, only use the boxes required to support you that week and the following week.

Please feel free to adapt and use the diary in any way that suits you best. If you would like more information or clarification, learn more about the Butler Method at www.butlerdiaries.com or please email info@butlerdiaries.com.