Emily Iliffe | Key Stage 3 Maths Coordinator
Since joining the Mathematics Mastery partnership, the biggest impact by far has been the increased attainment of our Key Stage 3 students – at all prior attainment levels.
Our students are now far more confident when approaching complex, multi-step problems. They are also increasingly flexible in the methods they apply to problem-solving, for example, using bar modelling.
My students’ understanding of fractions in particular is far more well established than it has been in previous year groups. They contribute actively in lessons and are keen to debate and challenge each other’s ideas.
Staff really enjoy using the Mathematics Mastery curriculum resources and we’ve definitely grown more confident implementing the concrete-pictorial-abstract (CPA) approach into lessons. We’ve also felt fully supported in developing classroom talk around maths.
As a department we really benefit from co-planning lessons together, which is emphasised throughout the entire Mathematics Mastery programme.
We find Departmental Workshops (a core aspect of the programme’s professional development) an enjoyable and productive way of taking time to talk about teaching and learning, and ensure we’re all taking a unified approach.
In particular, I enjoy debating ideas with our maths team in order to develop ideas and teaching concepts. We also really enjoy using the CPA approach to demonstrate topics that are often bound up with misconceptions.
With a great deal of new staff this year, it’s been a challenge encouraging them to adopt the Mathematics Mastery approach. The Departmental Workshops have been vital in enabling us to do this successfully. All members of our department are now fully on board with the programme and they can really see they the difference Mathematics Mastery has made to attainment and engagement in lessons.
Contact our friendly partnerships team who will be happy to talk you through the programmes and help you decide on the right approach for your school.
