observations, it is apparent that tiered worksheets and activities are used in every core subject class in key stage 2. In the schools’ 2015 inspection from OFSTED they were rated good for both the quality of teaching and the achievement of pupils. ‘Adults are aware of what each child knows and plans activities that challenge and extend children’s learning’ (OFSTED 2015 school report). While not specifically referred to as ‘differentiation’, there is reference in the outstanding criteria for ensuring that learning needs are met to ensure progress. Indeed, the OFSTED criteria (OFSTED 2014a) states that: Inspectors must consider whether teaching engages and includes all pupils with work that is challenging enough and that meets the pupils’ needs as identified by teachers. (Bartlett, J. 2016)
When reflecting on practice in school A it has been observed that a variety of methods of differentiation are used throughout the school; from providing 1 to 1 teaching assistants for SEN diagnosed children, regular use of teaching assistants to vary the support offered to groups of pupils and give interventions; whether they are used to narrow the gap with lower ability pupils or challenge the gifted and talented students, they have a wide variety of schemes available for teachers for spellings, reading and times tables and promote the use of multiple levelled practice within all classes, teachers use concrete, pictorial and abstract resources to support the pupils needs within the school, the use of free printing allows teachers to create tiered worksheets for their classes to better promote progress for all and the written responses by teachers to pupils reflection comments of their work are differentiated with the emphasis on personalised targets and outcomes for all.

Whilst some teachers at school A make three tiered worksheets such as mild, spicy and hot and give the pupils choice over which one they want to do, others create three tiered worksheets and hand them out to the pupils they deem suitable to attempt that level. We have seen from Bartlett’s (2016) influential research that ‘students should make a choice based on their performance in that skill/concept at the time built on mini assessments during the main teaching point and with the guidance from a teacher’. Differentiated instruction is a necessity in today’s world of diverse learners. It may involve providing choice among options; offering activities for various learning styles or cognitive abilities; using technology as a tool for providing varied activities, designing alternatives for students with disabilities, or providing opportunities to extend learning. Differentiation is not so much what you do, but how you think about the learning process (Pritchard,A.2005)
Often teachers differentiate solely based upon prior data (for example, they have already pre-assigned pupils to different worksheets before the lesson has even begun, teachers should use any data they have as