Arnold Mill Primary School

Prior to engaging with East Midlands East Maths Hub and joining the Work Group, the participants and school were sceptical about the Teaching for Mastery approach. The school had no scheme of work but used a spiral curriculum where the teachers revisited areas within Maths on a regular basis. Teachers spent shorter amounts of time on each topic and used a variety of resources to develop their lesson. Lesson structure was not consistent across the school.

Since joining the Work Group the participant has completely shifted his mindset and has fully embraced the approach and pedagogy of Teaching for Mastery. It has now been embedded in all classes throughout the school. As a result of being involved in the Programme the Maths Lead has now completed his training as a Cohort 8 Primary Teaching for Mastery Specialist.

Tom commented:
“Over the past three years of my maths leadership, I have found being part of the East Midlands East Maths Hub, attending various Work Groups and the training available, invaluable. Being part of the groups has equipped me with the knowledge and skills to support and lead staff. I have implemented structures within my own teaching and then shared my newfound expertise with my colleagues; enabling teachers to develop their own knowledge and understanding of the mastery principles. I have carried out whole school staff meetings and 1:1 coaching sessions. I have monitored the impact of training through book scrutinies and learning walks; where I acted on my findings, offering personalised support and points of development to increase effectiveness of the teaching and learning of maths, as well as staff’s subject knowledge and confidence.”

Engagement, attitude and understanding by children.
Through a greater knowledge and understanding of Teaching for Mastery, the use of manipulatives and a greater focus on the use of representations and structures there has been an overwhelming impact on pupils. Manipulatives were always available within teachers’ classrooms, but pupils didn’t always access them independently or know which were suitable for the different areas of the maths curriculum. The Maths lead commented, “Children are all now able to readily access manipulatives within the ‘number areas’ introduced within each classroom.” The headteacher commented, “Use of manipulatives has increased throughout the school but especially within Key Stage 1 with the introduction of Mastering Number and the use of the Rekenrek. The use of manipulatives is really helping the children get their heads around maths in a better way.” The Headteacher has also noticed that children are transferring and applying what they have learnt in different topics and concepts.
Since engaging with East Midlands East Maths Hub, pupils in the school have focused much more on deepening their understanding rather than accelerating to new content which had happened previously. Test results have shown that pupils are performing well, particularly in reasoning. The biggest impact has been on previously lower-attaining pupils and pupils with SEN/D. In Key Stage 1, EXS has doubled from 30% to 60%. The SEND children have had a real boost from it and have developed a ‘have a go’ attitude and the GDS children are talking and asking questions more. Furthermore, the pupils’ use of vocabulary has significantly improved throughout the school, and this has impacted on the children’s confidence and ability to explain and reason. The Headteacher commented that, “Mathematical vocabulary has improved throughout the school, this has been observed during lesson observations and learning walks.”

Maths Vocabulary has been a focus since engaging with East Midlands East Maths Hub. Lessons at school now start with teaching the new vocabulary which children practise and are tested on. Observations of pupils show that they are using vocabulary with precision and accuracy and are confident to reason using appropriate vocabulary.
Pupils observed in Year 1 and Year 6 were more engaged in maths lessons when observed in 2023 compared to when a Specialist observed learning at the school during the schools’ Development year. The Maths Lead puts this down to the school engaging with the Maths Hub and reflecting and adapting their current curriculum and teaching and learning. All students, including those with SEN/D, now have a much more positive view of maths and are willing to ‘have a go’.

Whole school structures, curriculum policies to enable a TfM approach
During in the Embedding year, the school introduced jotters alongside maths books. This was after seeing these being successfully used in a Teacher Research Group. The Maths Lead reported that this has developed children’s mathematical thinking and ability to reason logically.
Also, the Headteacher reports that variation theory has helped children to ‘transfer learning to different concepts’. This was new teacher pedagogical knowledge thanks to the Teaching for Mastery Work Group. There is now an expectation for lesson structure now incorporating variation into the beginning of lesson. 

Teacher Practice

Teachers at the school are thinking more deeply about their pedagogy in mathematics. Staff are much more positive about maths and are following the suggested resources and the schemes of work put into place by the school leadership. They understand the principles of Teaching for Mastery and have a better understanding of how children learn by making connections. 

Observations from a learning walk by the Assistant Maths Hub Lead showed that teachers were focused on delivering the content in small steps with clear explanations. There were often supported by visual representations and manipulatives. The Headteacher commented that this would not have happened before their involvement with the Maths Hub.

Observations of Mastering Number sessions showed that the teachers were using pedagogy linked to the programme with fidelity such as use of stem sentences, gesture, imaging and visualisation. Teachers could talk about the impact this was having on children. The Maths Lead commented that this was new to them as a result of taking part in the Mastering Number Reception and KS1 Programme.  A Reception Teacher at school was observed during a learning walk. She taught a session to her pupils on the principes of counting and how to decide whether to use these or subitise the amount. Within this short session, she was observed looking at the counting strategies in depth and using playful provocations to initiate a response from the children. The Maths Lead commented how her classroom practice had improved over the course of the last two years. Furthermore, the school has articulated that they no longer see ‘fluency’ as a separate part of the lesson since taking part in the sustaining focused option group and now provide children with more opportunities to make connections throughout the lesson.

This is important to us as it shows involvement with the Maths Hub can have a direct impact on the participants practice as well as their colleagues practice through the delivery of whole school CPD.