Maths Mastery the Windhill 21 Journey Teachers provide

Maths Mastery, the Windhill 21 Journey

‘Teachers provide pupils with many opportunities to apply their mathematical skills in problem-solving and reasoning activities. Pupils can articulate their learning clearly, using correct mathematical vocabulary. Pupils’ basic mathematical skills are very secure, which enables them to reason at a high level. ’

The journey began in 2016 and we are still travelling……. .

q DESIGN q DELIVER q REFLECT q REFINE

CULTURE OF WINDHILL 21 v. Research v. Pilot v. Reflect v. Refine v. Roll out with robust intention, driven by a passionate team v. Continuous review using the outcomes and feedback from pupils and staff

RESEARCH-DRIVEN v. Pisa – Singapore and Shanghai v. EEF v. Researched underlying principles of maths mastery and they made sense

Singapore China United Kingdom

What is the impact? On average, pupils in schools adopting Mathematics Mastery made more progress than similar pupils in schools that did not adopt the programme. The small positive effect can be estimated as equivalent to approximately one month’s additional progress. The effect detected was statistically significant, which means that it is likely that improvement was caused by the programme. The programme had a higher impact on pupils in Year 1, who made approximately two additional month’s progress on average, than those in Year 7, who made approximately one additional month’s progress on average. It is unclear whether the programme had a different impact on pupils’ eligible for free school meals or on higher or lower attaining pupils than on higher attaining pupils. In follow-up studies, data from SATs and GCSEs should be used to evaluate the medium and long-term impact of the programme on different groups of pupils

UNDERLYING PRINCIPLES OF MATHS MASTERY ……they made sense Certain principles and features characterise this approach: q Teachers reinforce an expectation that all pupils are capable of achieving high standards in mathematics. q The large majority of pupils progress through the curriculum content at the same pace. Differentiation is achieved by emphasising deep knowledge and through individual support and intervention. q Teaching is underpinned by methodical curriculum design and supported by carefully crafted lessons and resources to foster deep conceptual and procedural knowledge. q Practice and consolidation play a central role. Carefully designed variation within this builds fluency and understanding of underlying mathematical concepts in tandem. q Teachers use precise questioning in class to test conceptual and procedural knowledge, and assess pupils regularly to identify those requiring intervention so that all pupils keep up.

RESERVATIONS TO IMPLEMENTING MM Ø Experience of early adopters – Ofsted reports Ø Prescriptive Ø Teachers’ subject knowledge Ø Text books at the time Ø Stretching the more able? Ø Changing lesson design from Mild, Spicy, Hot

q Need expertise q Good subject knowledge q Drive and passion q Leadership ability q Train up as an expert

What did Windhill 21 have? A Maths lead and a Maths team to have the will and to drive across the school

LEAP OF FAITH

CHRONOLOGY OF ACTIONS

Date Action September 2016 3 teachers went on I day Mastery course to understand need/rationale October/November 2016 Teachers and TAs attended manipulatives course December/January 2017 £ 4000 invested in manipulatives January 2017 HFL INSET for all teachers January – July 2017 Different year groups tried various ideas to take on board Hf. L training advice, also some started to use White Rose resources for reasoning and problem-solving activities alongside old scheme / self- generated questions. Internal development meetings based on Hf. L ‘Take one manipulative’ series. Autumn 2017 Essentials planning by Hf. L was made available free of charge for PA Plus subscribers so we downloaded it and years 3 and 4 used it as the basis for their planning. Other year groups continued to base their planning on White Rose, with recognised need to take on board additional opportunities for practising before applying. November 2017 Cohort 3 journey begins for maths lead. THIS WAS A KEY TURNING POINT FOR UNDERSTANDING THE MASTERY PROCESS New lesson design proposed and introduced in years 2, 3, 4 EXPLORE – PRACTISE – APPLY – CHALLENGE. Underpinned by small steps, narrow focus, coherence and variation. Mastery focus in Year 1. November 2017 onwards Rest of Essentials scheme purchased for all year groups but mainly used in Years 3 and 4. Continuing refinement of lesson plans and in-house training on the different aspects of mastery. January 2018 Introduced Maths Meetings (15 mins every afternoon) as a way of practising prior learning topics and key number facts March 2018 Introduced CLIC as a way of structuring daily maths meetings September 2018 Hf. L INSET training on the rationale for using Essentials planning and how it works. All year groups adopt Hf. L as the basis for long term planning and WH 21 lesson design EXPLORE – PRACTISE – APPLY - CHALLENGE.

BIG ACTIONS, BIG IMPACT Action 1: Maths Lead (Sarah-Jane Pyne) was a Maths Mastery specialist. KS 1 maths lead was upskilled (HFL courses) Action 2: Agreed to all use HFL Essentials planning Action 3: Maths Lead and KS 1 lead planned with teachers Action 4: Peer to peer lesson design Action 5: Whole school delivered Maths Meetings

This is not a quick fix – it’s a journey

KEY FINDINGS o Learning is visible enabling AFL immediate intervention in the lesson o Getting pupils to think…… o Maths Mastery supports the acquisition of life-long maths skills o Children are more aware of the skills o It takes longer to plan o Gains for marking – assessment on the spot – no fire-fighting when you have taken books home realising a third of the class did not understand o Gives time to readjust next lesson

OUTCOMES q Children positive about maths across the school q Books show a clearning journey within the lesson and across a sequence of learning q Data shows a positive impact on borderline pupils although a bit too early to say definitively that data has improved over all – 2 year q Improved teacher pedagogical knowledge e. g. using models /bar models/manipulatives with older children/ use of prove it. Use of talk for understanding q (speaking frames) – structures of mathematical thinking q Supports Growth Mindset

OBSERVATIONS OF SHANGHAI TEACHERS: Ø higher / lower attainers and the language barriers observed. Ø insufficient time for independent practice so that children can embed new learning or apply it to more challenging areas (which is linked to addressing the differences between rapid graspers and lower attainers). However, from my observations of all the lessons I have seen so far, in Year 4 and Year 2, I think the positive takeaways for adopting are: Ø careful selection of examples/ representations so that the best examples are used to convey a learning point Ø focus on knowing and learning underlying number facts Ø use of multiple representations different ways of looking at the same thing so that children can understand a learning point in different contexts) Ø use of stem sentences to aid understanding and draw attention to the key points Ø giving the children non-standard and deliberately incorrect examples (known as negative examples) to really see if they understand

WHAT NEXT? üReflect on Shanghai teaching and develop key ‘takeaways’ üDiscuss the thorny issue of ‘challenge’ üEnsure maths mastery is deeply embedded üEvaluate impact üEradicating any residual resistance üEarly Years Mastery Implementation