A message from Christine McInnes:

20 May 2022 weekly update - maths edition

20 May 2022

This week in a very special maths edition, Christine shares a breadth of information and resources to help support maths standards and outcomes in your school.

Dear Colleagues,

This week’s Kelsi bulletin is a bit different so I am going to start with sharing the three school visits I have made this week. I was really delighted to have the opportunity to meet with Adam Mirams, headteacher of St George’s School Broadstairs who showed me around the secondary phase part of the school one lunchtime. The school’s strong inclusive ethos was very apparent and I very much look forward to visiting the primary phase in the not too distant future. Pilgrim’s Way Primary School in Canterbury gave me a wonderful welcome by inviting me to join assembly where the pupils sang the school song. I cannot think of a better way to start the day! Headteacher Anne-Marie Middleton showed me how the school uses a fully integrated model for children with SEND and supports new arrivals with English as an Additional Language in the classroom. Finally, I was really pleased to visit King Ethelbert School in Birchington to attend a meeting, a big thank you to Executive Headteacher and Chief Executive of the Coastal Academies Trust Kate Grieg and Headteacher Vicky Willis for their time.

The rest of the bulletin has a focus on maths and aims to showcase good practice, the range of maths work taking place across the county and the breadth of opportunities and materials for schools, children, young people and adults.

The idea for this grew out of a discussion and visit with the Maths Hub where so much good practice was signposted and mentioned. I want to share with you some of the case studies and the resources available, including offers from the commercial sector, Reconnect, and from the government which is rolling out an adult-targeted maths programme, Multiply, as part of the adult skills strategy.

In preparation for this Maths bulletin, we have reached out to a range of partners, schools and FE. Obviously, there is more great practice and work going on than can be gathered or shared in one bulletin. If you know of great practice or brilliant opportunities, please be in touch for the next Maths bulletin.

Wider opportunities

Did you know that My Money Week is taking place from Monday 13 to Friday 17 June? My Money Week is a national activity week for primary and secondary schools that provides a fantastic opportunity for young people to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence in money matters to thrive in society. It’s the highest profile and most recognised personal finance education initiative in England and supported by great classroom resources. Their website gives you great ideas for getting involved. My Money Week has taken place year on year since 2009 meaning hundreds of thousands of young people have left school with a thorough understanding of personal finance, saving wisely, credit and debt, keeping money safe and how to budget. 99% of teachers have said that their students showed an increase in knowledge and skills as a result of using the My Money Week resources.

There are other organisations that are eager to support with preparing young people with the maths skills they need for life. HSBC UK have developed and supported education programmes across the UK to ensure that young people have access to financial education at home, at school and in their wider community. The programmes are mapped closely to school curricula and support the objectives of the Money and Pensions Service 2030 Strategy to give two million more children access to meaningful financial education. The lessons support the financial capability of young people in schools, colleges, universities, charities and youth groups. These sessions are delivered free of charge in classrooms, in informal group settings and digitally across the UK by the HSBC Education Network. The topics covered are Financial skills for learning: Money maths, understanding value and numeracy; Financial skills for life: Making choices, budgeting and connecting with my community; and Financial skills for work: Money management at work, employability and careers. If you’d like HSBC UK Financial Capability lessons to run in your school, college, university or other organisation, please see the HSBC Education Network website or see the HSBC offers in the information and resources below.

Kent’s own Reconnect programme offers a wide range of support for learning. Two of the fully funded offers have a strong maths focus. Invicta National Academy is offering Home Study Support offer to all pupils in Years 5 and 6 (upper KS2 offer) and all KS4 pupils. The online lessons allow students to engage with a real online teacher with their maths homework and questions. Visit the Invicta Academy website for further information and for student registration or if you have any questions, please contact admin@invictaacademy.com.

The second fully funded Reconnect offer is an innovative approach to supporting maths by targeting parents and helping them to both understand how maths is taught in school and to understand how to develop maths skills with their children. The EEF Parental Engagement Report indicates that the right parental engagement can raise attainment but often parents don’t know how to help and don’t feel confident about the maths. Curious Maths parental subscription provides mini video lessons, definition videos, games and downloadable resources for parents. Please note that there are eligible criteria for schools but if you would like to find out more, please visit the Curious Maths website or contact admin@curiousmathsltd.co.uk for full information about the Reconnect offer.

With regard to the post 16 sector, The EKC Group, a family of six community colleges and business units, has been a Centre for Excellence in Maths since 2019. Centres for Excellence in Maths (CfEM) is a five-year national improvement programme aimed at delivering sustained improvements in maths outcomes for 16 to 19-year-olds, up to Level Two, in post-16 settings.

Funded by the Department for Education and delivered by the Education and Training Foundation, the programme is exploring what works for teachers and students, embedding related CPD and good practice, and building networks of maths professionals in colleges.

The EKC group’s focus has been to embed a Teaching for Mastery curriculum across Functional Skills Maths and the GCSE re-sits curriculum. The focus of this year’s Action Research has been a ‘responsive approach to teaching’, investigating various effective diagnostic tools to teach mathematics in the FE sector.

Previous action research reports published by the ETF:

The EKC Group also leads on the Kent abd Medway Post-16 GCSE Maths Hub Work Group. The aim of the project has been to share good practice between the Secondary and the FE sector and provide CPD focusing on Mastery Maths curriculum.

KCC Community Learning and Skills offers parent and child workshops on a variety of topics which can be run in school, as well as a wide range of provision for adults. More information on the adult offer can be viewed on the Community Learning and Skills website

As part of the adult skills strategy, the Government has recently launched the Multiply programme to help adults across the UK to improve their numeracy skills. There will be hundreds of free courses available covering a wide range of numeracy skills, from courses for beginners to more advanced courses. The Multiply digital platform will be available later this year across the UK, and has been designed to be flexible and on-demand, so learning can be fitted around other commitments. To find out more about the opportunities for your workforce or parents, register you interest today .

Case studies

I am impressed by the case study Putting Teachers at the Heart of School Improvement (PDF, 88.6 KB), written by Kieran Mackle from King’s Farm School. In partnership with Goldsmiths, three Gravesham headteachers were able to bring in specialist support to regenerate their communities and the quality of mathematics education they could offer each of their pupils. In the case study, you can find out about the approach which raised standards across all schools and placed King’s Farm in the top 3% of schools for progress in 2019. Impressive outcomes! You can contact Chris Jackson, the headteacher at King's Farm at office@kings-farm.kent.sch.uk if you’d like more information or find Kieran Mackle on Twitter @Kieran_M_Ed

Another case study with evidence at its heart is the First Class Maths at the Stour Academy Trust (PDF, 1.2 MB). This was match-funded by our own EEFective Kent Project which offered both the 1stClass@Number training and the app-based intervention, One Billion. Both programmes come with a strong evidence base of impact from the Education Endowment Foundation. For more information about the programmes, you can contact the team on EEFectiveKentProject@kent.gov.uk.

Networking, Training and Support Opportunities for Teachers

We are fortunate to have both a strong Maths Hub and our TEP colleagues who have a wide range of training and support for teachers. TEP’s Maths consultants run regular Subject Leader meetings to support leaders to stay up to date with the latest developments and have an accurate knowledge of their subject area. You can find full details of their Support for Primary Maths Subject Leaders (PDF, 77.2 KB) or you can contact Sarah or Jason at Sarah.Carpenter@theeducationpeople.org or Jason.Horne@theeducationpeople.org.

There is also DfE funded support for schools through the Kent and Medway Maths Hub Teaching for Mastery Programme. They are running Primary Recruitment Events (PDF, 101.7 KB) to share the full range of support available for you and your school. This includes a programme on Teaching for Mastery which is explored at three levels, What’s in it for us?, Sustaining, and Development. They also offer the Magic Message Roadshow, created by Andrew Jeffery to bring the magic of maths to everyone.

If you are a Secondary School, this is the week where all the hard work pays off. It has not been a simple task to navigate the preparation for these exams but the diligence of all has brought some normality back to the process. The Education People have been supporting schools navigating these changes. This support has provided opportunities for maths teachers to collaborate online and share best practice about how their different schools are approaching the challenges they face. In addition to this, there are bulletins and supporting materials which are sent regularly to maths departments across the county. If you would like to be included in this collaborative network please contact Andrew.Woods@theeducationpeople.org for more details. You might also want to take advantage of the Inspiring Excellence in Secondary Maths Day (PDF, 307.0 KB) on Thursday 14 July.

The Maths Hub have a tailored range of funded professional development for Maths experts. They are running the following Secondary Recruitment Events (PDF, 100.2 KB) - Teaching for Mastery development programme and Breakfast with Maths4Girls. Zoe Hamilton, from St Simon Stock Catholic School talks about the ‘very positive outcomes after just the first year’ of implementing a mastery curriculum. She accessed the fully funded Mastery Specialist training with NCETM and has immediately seen the benefits in her work. Her Reflections: Mastery Specialist Training (PDF, 108.0 KB) impact NPQ findings and closing the gap. You can also read about the Maths Hub’s impact on school practice and the Ofsted outcomes in Maths Hub contributing to impact, Ofsted (PDF, 76.9 KB). The Maths Hub also offers networking opportunities for teaching at post 16 as well. The AMSP (the Advanced Maths Support Programme) (PDF, 77.0 KB) organises many local teacher networks around the country which are focused on sharing good practice, professional development and promoting developments in teaching and learning. Full details below or contact Vicky. The Hub work also work with ITT providers to share current maths developments and consider the implications for trainees. To find out more about what The Maths Hub has to offer contact Vicky Vincent at Vicky.A.Vincent@kandmmamthshub.org.uk.

Conclusion

We know that poor levels of literacy have a huge impact on adult life, so this work is of real interest to KCC as we consider how we can strengthen maths across the county to better prepare children and young people in their transition to adulthood and the jobs market. The range of work being undertaken and the breath of opportunities the schools and young people is impressive and I would encourage you to access and utilise as much of this as you can in your work to drive up maths standards and outcomes.

With best wishes

Christine McInnes
Director of Education

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