Preparing students for the new A-level exams The first cohorts for the new linear Maths A-Level exams are well over halfway through, so our attention is now turning to how best to prepare for the upcoming exams. I’d like to reflect on some of the changes in A-level Maths that I think we should all […]
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If a week is a long time in politics, then 21 years must be an eternity. Yet I can still remember the furore when Stephen Byers – then education secretary – was interviewed on the radio about government plans to improve numeracy in school and got his calculations wrong. No journalists have tried to trip […]
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Written by Louise Pennington, Professional Development Leader for maths at Oxford University Press. The Multiplication Tables Check The Standards Testing Agency (STA) published the Multiplication Tables Check Assessment Framework in November last year. This document contains some key information about the Year 4 testing that will be statutory from June 2020: Voluntary pilot 10-28th June 2019 3 week window in June 2020 […]
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Like almost everyone else in Maths education, I have recently decided to broach the ‘mastery’ word. It does feel a bit odd to do so, given that it’s been around at least since at least the 60’s, and I’ve never felt a need to use it before – despite having been an advocate of the […]
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Rebecca Royle Barnsbury Primary School and Nursery, Surrey Our Journey We are a two-form entry primary in Woking and the Numicon approach to teaching and learning maths has become an integral part of our school’s ethos. At Barnsbury Primary School and Nursery the Numicon approach to teaching and learning in mathematics is embedded from the start […]
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Deputy maths lead Claire Hall discusses the massive impact Numicon has made on the students and staff at Tilbury Pioneer Academy. Back in 2013 Tilbury Pioneer Academy was due to be closed as students weren’t achieving their expected grades, staff weren’t being supported and the school was deemed not worthy of KS2. However, since the implementation […]
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Deputy Headteacher and Maths Co-ordinator Katie Willis of Perton Primary Academy discusses the initial challenges faced and lesson learnt when implementing a mastery approach in her school, and the successes they’ve had as a result. Our mastery journey began in September 2015. I had just started my job at Perton Primary Academy in Wolverhampton. There were no […]
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‘Inspire Maths is future proofing both our children and our curriculum’ – Maths Teacher at St Thomas’ C of E Primary School St Thomas’ C of E Primary School became an Advocate School for Inspire Maths in Spring 2017. Assistant Headteacher Liam Noon, and Maths Subject Lead and Teacher Judith Myhill discuss the triumphs of implementing […]
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By former DfE Assistant Director, Vanessa Pittard A major distinction between primary maths teaching in England and Singapore (and other high performing jurisdictions in the Far East) relates to whole-class (interactive) teaching. In the Far East everyone is taught the same maths together at the same pace, regardless of prior performance or how quickly different […]
Read more By former DfE Assistant Director, Vanessa Pittard I recently led a session with Derbyshire schools on mastery teaching. Derbyshire is a rural county, like many in England. This group of primary headteachers and maths leads included several people from schools with mixed-age classes: a fact of life for many rural schools. No surprise therefore that […]
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