Workshop Dates

Workshop 1 - Monday 15th January 2024 - 0930-1500 - Shropshire Education and Conference Centre, Mytton Oak Road, Shrewsbury

Workshop 2 - Monday 4th March 2024 - 0930-1500 - Shropshire Education and Conference Centre, Mytton Oak Road, Shrewsbury

Workshop 3 - Monday 15th April 2024 - 0930-1500 - Shropshire Education and Conference Centre, Mytton Oak Road, Shrewsbury

When booking, please note the dates and times in your diary, and submit your cover request in school.

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

“...would early attention to developing children’s spatial thinking increase their achievement in math and science and even nudge them towards STEM careers? Recent research on teaching spatial thinking suggests the answer may be yes” (Newcombe, 2010)

In this Work Group, participants will develop their understanding of the importance of spatial reasoning in children’s understanding of mathematical concepts and how this can have impact on improving outcomes for all in maths.

Over 3 full-day sessions, participants will develop their understanding of subject knowledge and age-appropriate pedagogies related to:

• Shape
• Pattern
• Measure

They will have opportunities to work collaboratively to plan teaching sessions that they will deliver in their classrooms/settings.  Reflecting together on the impact of these school-based tasks on children’s deep understanding will be a key part of this Work Group.

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.

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?

Funded by DfE so participation is free for schools