London Schools Excellence Fund Developing teachers’ mathematics subject knowledge in primary schools to improve the attainment of all pupils Liz Woodham, NRICH Project & Michael Hall, Open University

London Schools Excellence Fund In between face-to-face days … Don’t forget

London Schools Excellence Fund Day 9 – 20 May Welcome Working on mathematical tasks together Tackling tasks and reflecting on them in terms of subject knowledge and pedagogy Break Working on more mathematical tasks together Tackling one or more tasks and reflecting on them in terms of subject knowledge and pedagogy Sharing classroom experiences since last time Lunch Update on various project strands Curriculum development work In pairs, planning for at least one task back at school Working on more mathematical tasks together – reasoning follow-up Reflection

London Schools Excellence Fund Common themes from mathematical needs identified on day 1 The following were flagged up by at least two schools: Fractions/decimals/percentages Problem solving Place value Time Algebra Word problems Application of calculation strategies Subtraction

London Schools Excellence Fund Common mathematical needs identified on day 7 In order of preference: mental maths assessment (planning and progression) problem solving challenging SEN children challenging the gifted division (not chunking) word problems (especially money) ratio subtraction multiplication place value

London Schools Excellence Fund Secret Number

London Schools Excellence Fund How could you use ‘Secret Number’ in the classroom? How could you adapt it to suit your learners? What mathematical knowledge is needed to have a go at this task? How does it help to meet the aims of the National Curriculum (problem solving, reasoning and fluency)?

London Schools Excellence Fund Forgot the Numbers On my calculator I divided one whole number by another whole number and got the answer I know that both numbers were less than 50, but can't remember what they were. Can you work out what they were?

London Schools Excellence Fund Take each starting point and work it up into a solution. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each method? Which would you choose if you were presented with a similar task at a future date?

London Schools Excellence Fund How could you use ‘Forgot the Numbers’ in the classroom? How could you adapt it to suit your learners? What mathematical knowledge is needed to have a go at this task? How does it help to meet the aims of the National Curriculum (problem solving, reasoning and fluency)?

London Schools Excellence Fund Reverse Trick Tell your friends that you have a strange calculator that turns numbers backwards. Secretly enter 9+ then enter 12 and show a friend. Press = and up comes 21. Try another one: Secretly enter 36+ then enter 15 and show a friend. Press = and up comes 51. What secret number do you have to enter to make this large number turn around: ?

London Schools Excellence Fund How could you use ‘Reverse Trick’ in the classroom? How could you adapt it to suit your learners? What mathematical knowledge is needed to have a go at this task? How does it help to meet the aims of the National Curriculum (problem solving, reasoning and fluency)?

London Schools Excellence Fund Before we meet again … Continue to try out rich tasks with your learners and colleagues Lead a staff meeting/follow-up staff meeting Revisit the calculator-based tasks we have tried today Collect data about the attainment of children in your class

London Schools Excellence Fund Liz Woodham Michael Hall