In April and May this year, Ofsted published research reviews for science and maths. Here at Ark Curriculum Plus, the most heartening part of the Ofsted reviews is their absolute focus on ambition for all.
For over a decade, our curriculum team has been committed to identifying the features associated with high-quality maths and science education. This evidence base underpins our Mathematics Mastery and Science Mastery programmes.
Ofsted’s publication of the science and maths reviews gave us a great opportunity to reflect on where they have shone a light on the same priorities and implementation barriers that we’ve identified ourselves – both from the research literature, and from our close working with hundreds of schools nationwide.
Just like us, Ofsted are committed to raising attainment for all, as well as closing the gap.
In the maths review, for example, Ofsted emphasise that, “in addition to shining a light on approaches that could raise the attainment of all pupils still further, a core theme of this review is how we might prevent struggling pupils from falling further behind their peers”.
We know how important it is to teachers and school leaders that they understand Ofsted’s expectations and meet them where they can. So, we’ve taken a thorough look at Ofsted’s research summaries, and connected their recommendations with key features of our Science Mastery programme. We hope you find these helpful.
However, like others in the maths education community, we have a few reservations about the review process for Ofsted’s maths piece. One of our Expert Advisors, Anne Watson, has written a great piece which expresses some of these and is a recommended read. You can also read the response of our Head of Programme Design, Laura Tyler, here.
