The Structural Learning platform

Teach learners to think like a historian, a scientist, a writer or a geographer.

The Structural Learning platform is a toolkit for designing learning experiences. You choose the thinking your learners need, and it builds the lesson, the activities and the printed resources around it.

Plan a lesson free Click through a lesson

Free to start. Two lessons a month, no card needed.

An animated mockup of the lesson planner. The headline settles on one discipline, and a teacher then drags five step cards into a learning journey for it. For a historian, the lesson for ages 8 to 9 asks How do we know about the past: recall what learners know about life long ago, talk about what an old photo can tell us, sort the clues into objects, photos, stories and records, rank the sources from most to least reliable, then decide which source to trust most. As each card lands, its thinking word lights up and the journey reads Thinking like a historian: evidence, sources, reliability. A scientist gets a lesson on fair testing, a writer one on persuasive writing and a geographer one on earthquakes, built the same way.

Mockup of the lesson planner

Try it

Click through a lesson.

A lesson designed in the platform, from starter to final check. It moves through four stages: a starter, what they already know, the activity and the check.

Example lesson

The water cycle Science · Ages 9 to 10

Step 1 Retrieve

Lesson starter

Three quick activities to get learners thinking and talking together.

Turn and talkWhere does rain come from?
Sort itWater you can see, water you cannot.
Put it in orderPuddle, cloud, rain.

Step 2 Identify

Find out what they already know

One question on the board. Everyone writes, everyone shows.

Where does a puddle go on a sunny day?

On their mini whiteboards

It dries up
Into the ground
The sun takes it

Step 3 Sequence

The activity

Learners put the four stages in order round the cycle, then explain each arrow to a partner.

Step 4 Explain

Check what they know

Three “I can” lines. Learners show how sure they are.

Exit ticketThe water cycle

I can name the four stages.Yes

I can explain why water evaporates.Nearly

I can say why the cycle never stops.Not yet

Plan your own lesson free

Inside every lesson

Three tools that make thinking visible.

  • Map It

    Organise the ideas on paper.

    1. The question
    2. The organiser
    3. Place the ideas

  • Say It

    Talk it through before writing.

    1. The roles
    2. The question
    3. The stems

  • Build It

    Move the ideas until they are right.

    1. The blocks
    2. Arrange them
    3. Say why, out loud

Print it

Visual resources, ready to print.

Everything you need to design a great learning experience: the lesson plan, knowledge organisers, graphic organisers, talk sheets and cards to cut out. Print them for your class, or for someone else.

The first page of a printed lesson pack from the app, A4 landscape: the six steps of the lesson with their thinking skills, what learners should be able to say, and the materials needed.

Knowledge organiser · Sheet 1 of 1

The water cycle

How does water move from a puddle to rain and back again?

ScienceAges 9 to 10

Key words

EvaporationThe sun warms water and it turns into vapour.

CondensationVapour cools and turns back into tiny droplets: clouds.

PrecipitationDroplets join and fall as rain, snow or hail.

CollectionWater gathers in seas, rivers, lakes and the ground.

Water vapourWater as a gas. You cannot see it.

Check yourself

1. What makes a puddle dry up?

2. What is a cloud made of?

3. Where does rain go next?

The cycle

Remember

The sun’s heat keeps the cycle moving. The same water goes round again and again.

Key facts

Water can be a solid, a liquid or a gas.

Warm water evaporates faster than cold water.

Clouds are made of tiny droplets, not vapour.

I can

name the four stages in order

explain why water evaporates

say why the cycle never stops

Say it

First … then … because …

Structural LearningKnowledge organiser | Page 1 of 1

Map It · Graphic organiser

What does a plant need to grow?

Add what you know to each branch. Use the word bank.

ScienceName ____________

A growing plant
Light
Water
Air
Warmth

Word bank

sunlightrootsleavessoilcarbon dioxidetemperature

Say it in a sentence

A plant needs … because …

Structural LearningGraphic organiser | Page 1 of 1

Say It · Talk sheet

Should our school sell fizzy drinks?

Talk in threes. Take a role, then swap.

Talk in role15 minutes

Your role

1StarterOpens with an idea and a reason.

2BuilderAdds to it.

3ChallengerTests it, politely.

Say it like this

I think… because…

I agree, and I would add…

I see it differently, because…

What makes you think that?

Hands up

Before

After

What changed my mind

Our talk rules: we all take part · we give a reason · we test the idea, not the person

The Starter said

The Builder added

The Challenger asked

Structural LearningTalk sheet | Page 1 of 1

Build It · Learner materials

The water cycle, in order

Cut along the dashed lines. Move the cards to show your thinking.

ScienceAges 9 to 10

EvaporationCondensationPrecipitationCollection The sun warms the water.Vapour cools into clouds.Rain, snow or hail falls.Water gathers in seas and rivers.

… comes before … because …

Structural LearningBuild It learner materials | Page 1 of 1

Use it your way

A helper, never a script.

Think of it as a co-pilot: you stay in charge. Use as much of it as you need, change anything it writes, and teach it your way.

A teacher at a staff room table plans a lesson on a laptop; the screen shows a real learning journey from the platform, six steps for a persuasive writing lesson.

  • The whole lesson

    From the first question to the final check, ready to print or put on the board.

  • For someone else

    Leave a lesson for a cover teacher, or make a set for your department.

  • Only the resources

    Need a knowledge organiser, or one activity? Make that, and nothing else.

  • Beside you as you teach

    Keep it open in the lesson. When the class is ready, put the next step on the board.

  • A primary classroom, seen from the back. The teacher points to the board, which shows a real Say It talk routine from the platform: a motion, four task steps and three talk roles.
    The whole lesson, on the board. The slide is a real talk routine from the platform.
  • One teacher hands a colleague a printed page across a staff room desk: the real first page of a lesson pack from the platform, the learning journey.
    For someone else, printed. The page is a real print from the platform.
  • A teacher stands by a table of learners holding a tablet that shows a real slide from the platform's talk routine.
    Beside you as you teach. The screen is a real slide from the platform.

Plans

Take it for a test drive. Go Pro when you plan every week.

Free gives you two lessons a month to see what you think. Pro is for teachers who plan with it every week.

Free · a test drive

£0

Give it a whirl. No card needed.

  • 2 lessons a month
  • One quick activity each in Map It, Say It and Build It
  • Community support
Plan a lesson free

Pro · for planning every week

£75 a year

£9 less than paying £7 a month (12 × £7 is £84).

  • Unlimited lessons
  • Unlimited lesson steps
  • All graphic organisers
  • Export to PDF and more
  • Quick learning activities
  • Google Drive integration
Go Pro, £75 a year or £7 a month

Schools and trusts

Talk to Paul

For several teachers on one invoice.

Tell me how many staff and what you are working on this year, and I will come back with a price and a way to start, usually one department first.

Talk to Paul

Prices in pounds sterling. Pro renews each year or each month until you cancel.

In real schools

A thinking tool, built on a philosophy of learning.

It grew out of what these teachers do by hand: plan around the thinking first. Rich learning for children, without piling more on the adult, and more thoughtful classrooms as a result.

  • Two teachers at a trust training day lean over one large sheet headed Year 3, North America: physical, a unit drawn as a route between Thinking Framework cards, one teacher placing the next card.
    LETTA Trust, East LondonTeachers rebuild a unit for ages 7 to 8 on one sheet.
  • A science teacher's notebook with Thinking Framework cards stuck down the margin and notes on the carbon cycle beside them
    A secondary science departmentA science teacher plans a sequence, card by card.
  • A teacher in Quebec leans over a large sheet, drawing a plan with Thinking Framework cards laid across it, colleagues working round the table.
    Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board, QuebecTeachers plan a unit with the cards.

The research

Built on the evidence for metacognition.

The EEF asks teachers to teach thinking strategies explicitly and give learners the words for them. Every lesson here names its thinking and makes it visible.

In Make It Count, the University of East Anglia’s Year 7 programme built on these tools, learners answering “I can” rose from 52% to 83% (23 learners, 2024/25, indicative). That study used the cards and organisers, not the planner itself.

Training

Bring your staff in together.

Starting as a whole staff? A hands-on session is the quickest way in. Everyone rebuilds a unit they already teach and leaves with a lesson for next week. In school or online.

Request a conversation What a session covers
A school hall full of teachers at long tables, seen from the back, a Thinking Framework slide on the screen at the front
A whole-staff day, every table working.

Questions

Before you sign up.

Anything else, email paul@structural-learning.com.

Is it free?

Yes, to try. The free plan gives you two lessons a month and one quick activity each in Map It, Say It and Build It, with no card to sign up. You only pay if you choose Pro.

What does Pro add?

Unlimited lessons and lesson steps, every graphic organiser, quick learning activities, more export options and Google Drive. Pro is £75 a year, which is £9 less than paying £7 a month, and you can cancel at any time.

Can my school pay for several teachers?

Yes. Talk to Paul: tell him how many staff and what you are working on, and he will come back with a price and an invoice route.

Which curricula does it follow?

You choose a curriculum and a programme when you plan. It carries the National Curriculum in England, the Northern Ireland Curriculum and Cambridge programmes, with outline coverage for Scotland, Wales and Ireland. How much detail it holds differs by subject and phase, so the quickest check is to plan one free lesson in your own subject.

Does it work for secondary?

Yes. You pick the year group, for learners aged 3 to 18, and the planner writes for that age.

Can I change what it writes?

Yes. You can edit the objective, the success criteria and the thinking skill on each one before the lesson is built, and edit the lesson plan afterwards.

Can I print it or put it on the board?

Both. Print lesson gives you the plan, the activity sheets and the cards to cut out. Present to class puts each step on the board, full screen.

What happens to my data?

Your lessons are saved in your account. From Settings you can export your data, or delete your account and every saved lesson with it. If your school needs a data agreement, talk to Paul.

Your first lesson

Plan a lesson free, today.

Type a topic and a year group. The thinking, the activities and the pack come with it.

Plan a lesson free

Free to start. Two lessons a month, no card needed.

Already signed up? Sign in. Buying for a school? Talk to Paul.