Changing approach

Key changes:

• Planning over a longer timescale. Teaching the children for more than a single year leads to us knowing our children better, with one of the biggest benefits being that the teacher has a longer view of the ‘direction of travel’ in term of their learning and how all the ‘smaller steps’ fit together. This increases our ability to adapt our teaching appropriately as best suits the children in front of us. We get a whole picture of, for example the whole key stage in a R/Y1/Y2 class, making us more able to revisit and build on material. It helps to gather together the important parts of a topic to prioritise over a few weeks or the coming months, and ask, ‘What are the things we can start with in this whole sequence of work?’ Here Ruth Trundley and the Devon Mathematics team have pulled together the key understandings across KS2 
• Keeping the class together as much as possible. This does not mean all children doing the same task and ‘holding children back’. Instead, all children can work on the same mathematical area or problem in different ways, with communal activity and discussion. For example, working on understanding numbers to 50 might mean that some work on ordering using 100-squares, others build numbers to 20 or 30 with base-10 materials. The teacher’s focus then becomes the children’s learning, rather than ‘getting through’ the material for each year-group. This can enrich and widen younger children’s mathematical experience. Adults working with all ages have pointed out that younger children are able to listen and contribute to the lessons aimed at older children.
• Using more open-ended and problem-oriented tasks. A ‘low threshold and high ceiling’ approach involves a starting point which is accessible to all children. For example, enjoying a picture book such as “One is a snail”, with print-outs of the creatures, allows younger children to work with small numbers , whilst we might challenge older ones to systematically build and record larger numbers (providing adults with assessment opportunities) or work with just two or three of the creatures to find the numerical possibilities. See our ‘loose parts’ example in Vignettes of practice and examples in nrich

Some issues: Challenges or opportunities?

• Planning for the EYFS and the KS1 curriculum together is tricky. However, combining Reception and Y1 completely smooths out the transition between the two phases, allowing younger children to consolidate foundational concepts and skills, while providing a gentle introduction to the KS1 curriculum. Importantly it gives Y1 children access to free-flow play and continuous provision. Providing a solid KS1 base that is pedagogically sound outweighs any possible planning disadvantages.
• Different numbers of children in different year groups. This could be seen as another reason for keeping the class together as often as possible, with flexible grouping. As we start from the range in prior attainment, rather than age, we ask ourselves: Who needs extra experience of this? More practice? To approach this in a different way? Who can move on?
• Lack of TA support. This can be difficult, as the support of experienced and knowledgeable HLTAs is invaluable for group work. However, leaving a group to work alone creates opportunities for children to make sense of what they are being taught with their peers and to develop their collaborative skills and independence. Building a collaborative classroom climate is the key.
• What about the SATs? KS1 SATs are now non-statutory and this should no longer be an issue. Here are some examples of alternative task-based assessments for the end of KS1 produced by ATM/MA. Having a mixed-year-group class also stops Y2 (or Y6) being ‘all about the SATs’.

Case study: Sue’s mixed R/Y1/Y2 class

Reference
Griffin, P. (2018). From the Archive: Teaching takes place in time. Learning takes place
over time. Mathematics Teaching 264: 48-49

©Early Childhood Mathematics Group 2024