ItemEnglishMaths National A*-C6661 National boys A*-C6061 National girls A*-C7362 National FSM A*-CNA National boys FSM A*-CNA National girls FSM A*-CNA

Breaking the link between disadvantage and attainment

Boys seem to pick up and retain ideas quickly and often see or think they see, how to use taught methods and rules after relatively few examples. Girls like to have methods and rules clearly defined and explained and be shown how to use them. If they are not given clear and simple rules that they can use they are more likely to make up their own even if they are not founded on secure understanding. Confusion and often failure follows and this is likely to mean that their lack of confidence increases.

Girls enjoy the routine of practising skills, but often get too little time in lessons because they can be dominated by attention-seeking boys. Boys are more likely to have a go without worrying about presentation, consequences and results. Girls give more attention to detail, they want to see what they do in a well presented outcome and are more unsettled by the unexpected so do not get stuck into something as freely as boys.

Girls are happy to invest time in generating a response and completing what they are given to do. They are more likely to become engaged with a question that they cannot answer and to spend time thinking about how they can respond. Boys flit, move on to the next task and aim to reach the end as quickly as possible even if they have not answered everything on the way.

Teachers may attribute success of girls in their ability to follow rules rather than have a real understanding. Often girls believe they cannot do well in maths, they therefore do not well. Teachers seeing this result do not expect them to do well and so the cycle continues.

Some teachers think their best male students, when compared to their best female students, were more competitive, more logical, more adventurous, volunteered answers to maths problems more often, enjoyed maths more and were more independent in maths. These views could cause teachers to ‘overrate the males’ mathematical capability and to underrate the females.’

Narrowing the Gap Narrowing the Gap is about improving the outcomes for underachieving and disadvantaged children There is evidence of a gap when a child is 22 months old. White British boys entitled to FSM are the lowest achieving group.

Why do disadvantaged children progress less well? Some symptoms and issues Cognitive gaps already evident before age 5 Weaker home learning environment Lower prior attainment at each Key Stage Harder to recover from stalled learning Quality of teaching for children in lower sets Behaviour, exclusion and absence Aspirations, peer influences, “not cool to learn” Weak family/community networks Narrow experiences and opportunities SEN/disadvantage overlap Gaps are too often an “invisible issue”

The gap will not be narrowed by generally raising achievement. If targets are based on prior attainment and all pupils reach their targets there will still be a gap.

Which pupils in your school are entitled to FSM? What will you do about narrowing the gap? Which pupils in your schools are receiving one-to-one tuition?

Early entry for GCSE mathematics

1.When do pupils begin to take GCSE mathematics examinations in your school? 2.How many GCSE mathematics examinations will the pupils in your school take? 3.What is the maximum number of examinations for an individual by the end of KS4? 4.Why do you use the examination entry pattern that you do?

What would you want for your child if (s)he was  very able  able  average  below average  well below average  had learning difficulties What effect does your examination regime have on  GCSE mathematics results for the school?  achievement in mathematics for individuals?  attitudes to mathematics?  pupils’ well being?

If you weren’t worried about the percentage of pupils achieving grade C+ by the end of Year 11, which pupils would you want to enter early for GCSE and why? If you want to increase the number of C+ grades in mathematics, what are the alternatives to early entry?