Pattern, Shape, Space and Measures

Bookings are limited to one place per school for this Work Group.

Participants will develop their mathematical subject knowledge in conjunction with understanding the pedagogy that underpins the teaching of it. Understanding of mathematical structures will be explored so participants gain a detailed understanding of how children learn early mathematical concepts.

Each pathway has three maths sessions, three associated pedagogy sessions and a school based task based on an action research cycle.

‘Early Years settings and schools should invest in developing practitioners’ own understanding of mathematics, their understanding of how children typically learn, and how this relates to effective pedagogy.’ – EEF KS1 Guidance Report

It has long been recognised that maths teaching is enhanced when the teachers are confident about the subject matter. Seabourne’s work over the period of 2004-06 found that Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) led to ‘improvements in subject knowledge, attitude, understanding and confidence’.  Gibson, O'Toole, Dennison & Oliver’s (2013) report on SKE across all subjects in which SKE is offered finds that levels of subject knowledge and confidence in the subject are dramatically enhanced on completion of SKE.

Who will be leading the group?

Fiona Wood 

Fiona is a Primary Maths Teaching for Mastery Specialist and NCETM PD Accredited lead, as well as working for NCETM co-developing the Mastering Number programme. She is an experienced Primary Maths subject leader, with MaST qualification. Fiona has undertaken extensive Primary Maths research of different educational systems, including working collaboratively with and hosting teachers from Shanghai. She has worked collaboratively as part of the national working party to develop EYFS Development Work Groups.

Who is it for?

The purpose of this project is to support Early Years teachers in developing specialist knowledge for teaching mathematics, thus enabling them to understand, teach and support pupils in maths in the classroom.

Joining details will be sent by email approximately ten days before the first workshop and will be noted in the Basecamp community for the participants of this Work Group.

What are the intended outcomes?

As a result of this project, participants will not only be able to ‘do’ mathematics, but will also have the appropriate pedagogical knowledge to teach and support their pupils well. Participants will develop both their knowledge about maths and knowledge about the teaching of maths, with a particular emphasis on developmental progression in the Early Years to ensure sequences of learning are cohesive, developing better pedagogy and being aware of how pupils learn, and how to teach the content most effectively. Classroom practice will develop through participants’ engagement with school based tasks between meetings, trying out activities with pupils to promote understanding, reasoning and fluency.

What will it involve?

Classroom practice will develop through a series of school based tasks where participants try out activities to promote depth of understanding, reasoning and fluency; these might include pupil interviews, lesson study and work scrutiny. Research and evidence are used to inform their practice and participants are encouraged to share these more widely in schools to support discussion on current policies and approaches.

The programme will have the following elements:

• Four online workshops
• Independent study, setting-based learning and evaluation
• Online discussion as part of a professional community

All participants are expected to attend all workshops and complete tasks in their schools between the sessions. They will be asked to keep a reflection log for their own use and contribute to the national evaluation process, through a short online survey after the Work Group has finished.

What is the cost?

Free