The new Common Inspection Framework will be implemented from this September. Most attention has been on how often schools will be inspected and the length of inspections. However, for many class teachers the main concern is how their own performance will be judged.
In the past there was a strong a emphasis on every child making progress in every lesson - this was not just in maths, but in all subjects. For every child to make progress there was an emphasis on managing differentiation. This is still something that teachers will want to continue getting right - meeting the needs of individuals - but the emphasis is more on keeping the class together until specific concepts or skills are mastered.
The DfE gives no guidance (apart from through the NCETM) about how to teach the maths PoS of the new 2014 National Curriculum, in a deliberate move away from the more prescriptive nature of the Numeracy Strategy.
The DfE gives no guidance (apart from through the NCETM) about how to teach the maths PoS of the new 2014 National Curriculum, in a deliberate move away from the more prescriptive nature of the Numeracy Strategy.
So this will be looking specifically at questioning, interaction and opportunities given for reasoning. This is about pedagogical subject knowledge – teachers need to use their own understanding of the concepts, skills or techniques being taught, to model this to the children and find appropriate ways to engage the children in active learning.
Age-expected outcomes are emphasized here, with implications for the school scheme of work and planning to be carefully structured to ensure curriculum coverage and progression. Secure knowledge of number facts and then their use with mental strategies and written algorithms when calculating are then given a prominent mention.
- develops depth of understanding and readiness for the next stage – the National Curriculum for mathematics at Key Stages 1 and 2 specifies the aims and then states, 'The expectation is that the majority of pupils will move through the programmes of study at the same pace’. At all key stages, the national curriculum states, ‘Decisions about when to progress should always be based on the security of pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice, before moving on.’
Straight from the 2014 National Curriculum for maths, this is an important paragraph and identifies the importance of a depth of understanding needed before moving on to the next step in their learning. Teachers will need to plan carefully against specific expected outcomes, with problems and challenges to give depth to the learning as well as opportunities for practice, possibly at a previous stage, to consolidate the understanding.
A good understanding of the small steps of progression in each maths strand is important here for teachers, as well as planning for purposeful problem solving for children to apply their knowledge and skills. It doesn’t mean staying on a particular maths topic for weeks on end until all have grasped the idea, but it does mean making decisions over what the expected outcomes of a particular ‘unit’ of work are, the best way of teaching it and the assessment of children’s progress so that a teacher knows whether to go back a few steps, whether to provide further depth or whether to finish and re-visit at a later time when it may be more appropriate.
A good understanding of the small steps of progression in each maths strand is important here for teachers, as well as planning for purposeful problem solving for children to apply their knowledge and skills. It doesn’t mean staying on a particular maths topic for weeks on end until all have grasped the idea, but it does mean making decisions over what the expected outcomes of a particular ‘unit’ of work are, the best way of teaching it and the assessment of children’s progress so that a teacher knows whether to go back a few steps, whether to provide further depth or whether to finish and re-visit at a later time when it may be more appropriate.
So, what you are looking for in your maths teaching is good subject knowledge, clear expected outcomes, evident small-step progression, active learning with appropriate use of models and images, careful questioning and positive interaction, strong modeling of techniques and a problem solving approach with children encouraged to reason and explore.
Sounds reasonable – and if you can engender a positive, ‘can do’ atmosphere in the class on top of that, then I think Ofsted will find it an outstanding place to learn maths!
School inspection handbook from September 2015:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-inspection-handbook-from-september-2015
Based on evidence from inspections of mathematics between 2008 and 2011
Good practice in primary mathematics:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/good-practice-in-primary-mathematics-evidence-from-successful-schools
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