Forward or Backwards

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Create a Week of Lessons Using AI

Published · 18 min

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Two real trials frame the caution this video builds in: a December 2024 EEF/NFER trial found science teachers given ChatGPT access spent 31% less time on weekly lesson preparation with no drop in resource quality, and an October 2026 EEF/NFER trial of a dedicated tool, Aila, found primary teachers saved 24% of their preparation time - but also found the tool used lightly, with most teachers saying it had not meaningfully changed how they taught. Neither trial measured pupil learning outcomes, and this video does not claim either tool improved them.

No real pupil, teacher or school appears. The Department for Education's own guidance, updated 12 August 2025, recommends against putting personal data into generative AI tools, and this workflow follows that throughout. The six-step workflow shown - brief, weekly plan, connected days, expanded lessons, adapted materials, checked before class - is built to generalise to any subject or year group.

Educational documentary. Not financial or investment advice.

In these topics

Chapters

  1. The week we will build
  2. Write the teaching brief
  3. Ask for the weekly plan
  4. Make the five days connect
  5. Expand Monday into a lesson
  6. Build the other four lessons
  7. Create the supporting materials
  8. Plan checks and responses
  9. Adapt for the learners
  10. Check accuracy, time and curriculum fit
  11. Assemble the usable week

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Sources and credits

Primary sources

  • UNESCO, 'Guidance for generative AI in education and research', published 7 September 2023, page updated 16 January 2026 (unesco.org) - checked by direct page fetch, 11 October 2026.
  • Education Endowment Foundation / NFER, 'ChatGPT in lesson preparation: Teacher Choices trial', published 12 December 2024 - 259 Year 7/8 science teachers, 68 schools; 56.2 vs 81.5 minutes weekly preparation, 31% less; no detected drop in resource quality from a blind expert panel review. Checked by direct fetch of the NFER publication page, 11 October 2026.
  • Department for Education, 'Generative artificial intelligence (AI) in education', first published January 2025, updated 12 August 2025 (gov.uk) - checked by direct page fetch, 11 October 2026; the quoted sentence cross-checked by an independent second web search.
  • Education Endowment Foundation / NFER, 'AI tool reduced primary teachers' lesson planning time by a quarter, but views on the tool were mixed', published 6 October 2026 - 464 teachers of Years 3-6, 108 schools, autumn term 2025; 24% less time (about 2h30 vs 3h19 weekly), no drop in quality; 81% opened the tool once, but it supported only about 7% of lessons in a typical week; fewer than one in five said it meaningfully changed their teaching. Checked by web search corroborated across the EEF/NFER project record and two independent press reports (EdTech Innovation Hub; ResultSense), 11 October 2026.
  • Department for Education, 'National curriculum in England: mathematics programmes of study', published 11 September 2013, collection updated 28 September 2021 (gov.uk) - Year 5 fractions statutory wording, checked by direct page fetch, 11 October 2026.

Not regulated financial advice.