Leeds for Learning Annual 2018 Primary and Secondary Mathematics Conference and Exhibition

Karen Wilding, independent maths consultant

Proficiency in reasoning now counts for a higher proportion of marks in the Year 6 SATs than arithmetic and yet many schools are still focusing largely upon teaching procedures. Is this because we don’t value reasoning or we’re just not sure how to teach it? If it’s the latter, you’re not alone and this workshop is a fantastic place to start! Come and learn about the incredible potential of a recently ‘revived’ manipulative: Cuisenaire rods. From the EYFS to Year 6 they have the potential to revolutionise your practice (and get you very excited about maths!)

Sarah Coltman, learning improvement consultant and Esther Patterson, EY lead, Featherbank Primary School

The EY Mastery approach develops children’s ability to reason and problem solve. Find out why this works, the importance of early mathematical language development and how best to develop leadership of EY mathematics so this is understood throughout school. Examples will be shared from schools which have developed a consistent approach which involves all staff and parents.

Karen Knepper, Kully Richardson, learning improvement consultants

Effective formative assessment can shine a light into how pupils think.  Good teaching and assessment allows us to anticipate and spot struggles in pupils at crucial stages. It empowers us to plan learning activities which are closely matched to pupils’ interests and levels of ability, and to proactively guide pupils down the right paths towards a stable, lifelong understanding of mathematics. This workshop is influenced by up to date assessment research and best practice in schools.

Sarah Chamings, learning improvement consultant

Excitingly the Huntington Research School, York is now a strategic partner for the Leading Learning Partnership, keeping us at the forefront of evidence informed practice and developments in educational research. This session will provide the training required for subject leaders to carry out their own disciplined inquiry which matches their schools’ priorities. The workshop will develop confidence in interrogating research and effectively evaluating the effect of strategies employed to raise attainment and diminish the difference. The disciplined inquiry will span across the academic year, resulting in informed, confident and autonomous leaders who will also have the opportunity to share findings across subjects and schools.

Ian Davies, Senior Secondary Specialist, West Yorkshire Maths Hub

This session will give Headteachers and Governors guidance on how to monitor the implementation of a mastery approach within their schools.  Building on from Dr Pittard’s keynote, we will look at how the recommendations from the EEF’s recent report into KS2/3 mathematics link seamlessly with mastery.  In particular we will focus on the use of multiple representations, problem solving and the provision of support and challenge. We will ensure that everybody leaves with a better idea of how they can support the development of mastery in their setting.

Tracey Thomas-Marshall

Join us in this Teach Meet style workshop. Hear from schools across the city overcoming barriers and making good progress in mathematics. Schools will be sharing inspiring practice on a range of topics covering the whole primary age range. If you have something that you would like to share, bring it along. We would love to hear from as many schools as possible in the time given. Bring along examples of work, activities, investigations, posters, photographs, floor books, text books, etc. – anything which is having an impact on learning. Regardless of whether you have something to show, you are welcome to come and listen to the schools already signed up to share what works for them.

Therese O’Sullivan, learning improvement consultant

This workshop is designed to support delegates in ensuring speaking and listening has a high profile within the mathematics curriculum, and is being used to challenge, stimulate thinking and develop reasoning skills.  Effective engagement strategies and practical language-based activities will be modelled by teachers from two Leeds schools to scaffold, develop and extend children as articulate and independent mathematicians. Video clips and samples of work from across the primary age-range will be shared to bring these strategies to life.

Suzanne Coxon, Yorkshire and Humber Maths Hub

Is your school developing a mastery approach to teaching mathematics? Do you face challenges in implementing mastery in upper key stage 2? Do you struggle to keep your year 5 or year 6 class together working on the same idea?

This workshop will showcase a mastery lesson for year 5/6 and demonstrate use of the five Big Ideas and explore differentiation by depth. The lesson will provide a coherent journey through the learning, using a ping-pong style and share how all children can work on the same concept.

Jonathan Hall, Learning and teaching specialist

Well-designed practice questions can help students develop procedural fluency, whilst also allowing them to make the connections and cognitive leaps necessary to develop conceptual understanding. This workshop will explore how a careful sequence of questions, including boundary examples as well as using the principles of variation theory will throw students off auto pilot and cause them to think.

Karen Wilding, independent mathematics consultant

Mathematics serves the world not the other way around. We don’t go home and think ‘I’ll do some maths tonight;’ instead we say, ‘I’ll cook a meal or search for an affordable holiday somewhere nice.’ To do these tasks we need mathematical understanding and skills. Children also need this sense of purpose in their learning. When we begin a learning journey by showing learners a problem that is meaningful and that can’t be solved without developing a specific skill, they are motivated to learn and be far more likely to show resilience when things get tough. ‘The Maths Sandwich’ is an innovative, but incredibly simple, planning approach which allows us to plan from meaning, through skills and back to meaning. The teachers that use it love it!

Ed Southall, Huddersfield University

An exploration into the variety of methods available to us as we journey through problem solving in mathematics. By shifting the focus onto strategies and thought processes, we can uncover a rich source of intellectual stimulation, gain insights into the thought processes of our students, and ultimately gain a deeper understanding of mathematics. Here we will explore practical examples of how to develop young minds to strengthen mathematical processes, comprehension and confidence.