Listen and read below to Charmayne Leggett, Curriculum Director of Maths, and many other colleagues across the Trust to find out more about our innovative work in this spotlight on Maths.
Charmayne Leggett, Curriculum Director for Maths at Meridian Trust, talks about how this curriculum has been developed and rolled out across the Trust.
Teaching for Mastery is a research-based approach that aims for pupils to develop deep understanding of Maths rather than just being able to memorise key procedures or resort to rote learning. The phrase Teaching for Mastery describes the elements of classroom practice and school culture that combine to give pupils the best chances of mastering Maths. Here we catch up with Malcolm Watson (Histon & Impington Brook Primary School and Meridian Primary Maths Leader), James Course (Somersham Primary School) and Eleanor Hayden (West Town Primary Academy) about the development of mastery across the Trust.
How did your journey to maths mastery begin?
Malcolm: “For the Brook, it dates back to 2014 when the opportunity arose to be one of the first schools in the country to host Chinese teachers as part of a collaborative project. The Chinese teachers proceeded to teach Maths lessons in our school that our staff and colleagues visiting from other schools in the region could observe and learn from. As a ‘Teaching School’, the then Junior School prided itself on the CPD of staff and keeping up with innovations in education. Following on from the Chinese teachers’ visit, when the platform came up to have a member of staff train as a Maths Teaching for Mastery Specialist, the school jumped at the opportunity and I signed up in 2016.”
James: “It was embedded in CPET when the school joined in 2019, and we recognised that it would be a good starting point for improving our teaching and the children’s learning in Maths. As a Maths leader, I undertook training via the Cambridge Maths Hub in Mastery Readiness. This was a clear introduction into the big ideas that underpin the philosophy of Teaching for Mastery. This was followed in subsequent years by Teaching for Mastery and Embedding Mastery which enabled me to develop my own practice and, as a middle leader, to have an impact beyond my own classroom. I am currently completing the second year of Sustaining Mastery, which is all about ensuring consistency of provision throughout the whole school.”
Eleanor: “We began the Teaching for Mastery approach several years ago with the introduction of the six-part lesson. This allowed children to consolidate prior learning before being introduced to new concepts that were further developed during the lesson with the inclusion of concrete, pictorial and abstract representations. This year we joined the NCETM Developing Mastery workgroup to work alongside Malcolm and several Trust schools in developing our mastery teaching. This has been instrumental to us as we focus on ensuring that the five big ideas of mastery are being used consistently across school. We have worked closely with teachers and schools who are at a similar point in their mastery journey, sharing good practice and observing high-quality lessons.”
What have been the main benefits/impacts to date?
James: “We have developed a whole-school and Trust approach to teaching and learning in Maths that is driven by Teaching for Mastery. In all year groups, children have access to high-quality resources to enable them to learn and apply their knowledge practically before moving on to more abstract situations. All lessons feature Trust-developed stem sentences to ensure consistency and clarity for all children. We also expect lessons to follow a similar structure whereby children are exposed to fluency, reasoning and problem-solving activities on a daily basis. For teachers, the largest benefit is in children’s ability to understand and recall previous learning and apply it to new learning. When teaching Year 4 Maths for the last few years, it has been noticeable to me that there are increasingly less gaps in the children’s knowledge and we could move on to new learning more quickly.”
Eleanor: “The impact has been significant for both pupils and staff. The pedagogy behind mastery means that the whole class moves through topics at largely the same pace. Through adaptation, children are scaffolded appropriately to secure their understanding and those that display very secure understanding are given rich, challenging opportunities within the topic. The inclusive nature of mastery has helped to build confidence and resilience in our children who enjoy working together to master new learning. By ensuring we develop conceptual understanding, we enable children to apply their knowledge to unknown problems. Staff enjoy the collaborative ‘back and forth’ nature of the lessons and recognise the benefits of exposing the children to varied question types and representations.”
Malcolm: “It is a continuous journey. We are nine years into it and still developing the five big ideas with children and staff. The difference is that children now have a much better understanding of the Maths that they are doing and will be able to confidently apply this to their lives beyond primary school. Our expectation is that all the children we teach will understand the Maths they are learning about. This is because alongside the change in the pedagogy of teaching Maths has come a change of culture in the school where Growth Mindset is now at the heart of everything we do and that belief that all children can achieve at anything over time if they work hard and are supported in the right way. This change in culture, to one that celebrates mistakes and does not label children using fixed tags of ability, has had the biggest impact on both staff and children at the school.”
In summary, what is your key advice to other schools?
Eleanor: “Start with the small steps. Planning out your curriculum to ensure that the sequence of lessons works for your children and that prior knowledge can be built upon, is key to ensuring children make good progress.”
Malcolm: “It is not a quick fix to better SATs results! If you follow this approach then over time your children’s confidence, enjoyment and understanding in Maths will grow beyond measure. Good data outcomes are a nice by-product.”
James: “Do it! As with anything, it is not a ‘magic bullet’: there are many moving parts which need to be thought about before implementation and kept running smoothly once everything is up and running, but we have found it to be a powerful tool for developing the mathematical capabilities and confidence of our children.”
Malcolm Watson, Histon & Impington Brook Primary School and Meridian Primary Maths Leader
Here, Eilis Burke, Maths teacher at Northstowe Secondary College talks about how she helped develop the curriculum at the school with the support of Meridian Trust. Eilis also speaks about the Teaching for Mastery specialism. The video also includes Northstowe Secondary College students talking about what they most like about the subject.
Our Maths curriculum is adapted so it is made accessible and fully inclusive for all students.
Vicky Osborne, Maths Area Lead for Meridian Trust, talks about how the Maths curriculum is tailored for our SEND students.
Schools like Martin Bacon Academy have equipment where they can make Maths come alive. For example, swimming pools where students can learn about pouring water.
Gemma Boyce is a Key Stage 3 Leader at Stamford Welland Academy, part of Meridian Trust. She talks about how to make Maths accessible and fun for students. Grace Finnigan is Leader of Maths at Stamford Welland Academy and speaks about teaching techniques and strategies.