However well organised your planning, there comes a time when you need to rely on someone else’s ideas. Nelson Thornes has set up a website with lesson plans, photocopiable resources and homework ideas, all of which can be downloaded. It uses materials from three Nelson Thornes primary series: Blueprints (core subjects), Learning Targets (literacy), and Homepages (maths). Teachers can currently choose resources by selecting a level and a subject, but the site will be developed. It’s a bit like getting a takeaway meal - not recommended as a regular event, but fine as a piece of occasional opportunism or a reward for hard work.

The web address is: www.lastminutelesson.co.uk