Maximising Progress In Maths
FOR ALL PUPILS
Why the need for change?
 Nationally not all pupils are making the required progress and nationally most
progress happens in Years 2 & 6 when children are formally tested.
 Some pupils go back over, stand still or make much slower progress in the in-between
end of Key Stage years.
 Some children are working below Age Related Expectations while others are working
above Age Related Expectations, making it more difficult to fully support and
challenge all children; especially in mixed age classes.
 There is a new curriculum and levels have gone so ALL schools have had to find their
own form of assessment to use.
Why Assertive Mentoring?
“AM” was designed by two former Head teachers.
Eamonn Farrar led Hurworth School in Darlington from obscurity to the DfE’s Top 100
in record time. OfSTED judged his school to be outstanding in every category in 2008. A
year later it was judged to be outstanding in subject inspections in literacy and numeracy.
He has been seconded to lead failing schools out of trouble and as a National Leader of
Education, Eamonn has trained over 2,000 schools in kick-starting leaps in their
development.
Peter Boddy has a track record of transforming schools. He led his own school from
bottom to top 5%. Seconded into 3 other struggling schools, OfSTED described his work
as Acting Head Teacher as “outstanding” and the impact of assertive mentoring as
“transformational”
When we looked at the AM system we felt it was exactly
what we needed.
It ensures that everyone, including children, teachers and
parents understand the progress that is being made, while
providing achievable targets to move children forward.
It also informs teachers planning so that we are teaching
the things the children need to focus on in order to make
progress.
How does Assertive Mentoring work?
AM replaces Levels with Stages.
Stage 1 is Y1; Stage 2 is Y2 etc.
Each Stage is broken down into sub stages (similar to old
sub levels of a,b and c).
There are 4 Sub Stages per Stage: Emerging; Developing;
Secure & Next Stage Ready
So a child working at S2S is Secure or working within with
the Year 2 Curriculum
How do we track your child’s progress?
 Each half term, children are given the half termly test
from the Stage they are currently operating within.
(example)
 The tests take an hour for pupils to complete. Each
question tests a specific criteria. i.e. Q1 tests criteria 1
at that Stage; Q2 tests criteria 2 etc.…. Each tests
checks every objective from that stage in the same
order each time.
 If a child gets the question completely right, they get a
cross in the corresponding cell on the Tracking Sheet; a
diagonal line if partially right and a dot if wrong.
How to award a sub stage from the test.
 The number of crosses awarded on the test are counted and shows
where the child is within that stage i.e. Emerging, Developing,
Secure – 65% or Ready for next Stage 85% . (these match
expectations at end of Ks1 and Ks2 – increased from last year)
 The teacher & pupil can now see how many more crosses are needed
on the next half termly test (in 6 weeks time) to move the pupil to the
next sub stage
 The spreadsheet goes to the lines on the tracking sheet to identify 4 or
5 targets that the pupil works on over the next half term, knowing that
if these can be converted into crosses by the time of the next half
termly test, the pupil will have moved up a sub stage.
 Children and parents receive a copy of the Pupil Target Sheet and
these become their Math's targets
How do the results of the half termly tests inform
what we teach?
Dots lines & crosses from half termly tests are entered into an Excel Spreadsheet
and provide an overview of group performance. They identify gaps in teaching &
learning or weaknesses, which in turn informs planning.
Teachers use these assessments to adapt what they planned to teach ; they now
teach to the gaps in learning identified by the assessments. The scheme is not
abandoned, just modified to address the identified gaps in pupils’ learning,
meaning that we teach the pupils not the scheme!
They also give an indication of ability groups to inform class organisation and
differentiation and show the children requiring intervention and extension work.
The following half term, the children take Test 2, which tests exactly the same
objectives (ALL obj are tested for each Stage) The aim is for less pink and blue
each time as children move THROUGH the Stage = IMPACT OF TEACHING
(Examples of 2 half termly spreadsheets )
X \ or .
A line of . suggests that more work is required than a row
of \
A row of x means that deeper learning may be needed
for these objectives
The Teaching Assistant works with groups of children on
the \ - the aim being to turn these \ into x
WEEKLY SKILLS CHECKS
 Another way to support pupils’ learning in Maths is to give the children a
Weekly Basic Skills Check. (examples for S1,3 and 5)
 There are 15 of these at every Stage, which are repeated twice
 Children take the Weekly Basic Skills Check twice. For the first check, the
teacher works through the questions with the class, discussing different
methods/ most efficient methods etc. Any misconceptions are identified.
 The following week, there is a 15 minute teach of one of the areas the
group struggled with. The children then repeat the check unaided.
 This regular practice supports mastery of the basic skills as the weekly
repetition enables pupils to keep getting right those questions they’d
previously got wrong so that basic skills are not forgotten over time.
 The gap between the score achieved in an aided check and the score
achieved unaided narrows as children master the skills required.
“ARE” expectations are new for parents.
Reporting will say if children are working within, towards or above
ARE for each Year (Stage). By the end of the year children should
be SECURE / NEXT STAGE READY to be working within ARE.
There will be gaps in learning from the old to the new curriculum,
for children in Years 4,5 and 6.
(Year 6 have only had 3 years of the new curriculum. Year 1 ,2 and
3 have only been taught the new curriculum. )
It will take 3 years before ALL children have ONLY been taught
the NEW CURRICULUM.
(The current Year 3 as Year 6. )
However, AM helps to plug these gaps and we have seen
accelerated progress for many children this year.
The expectations are much higher than the old
curriculum.
OLD
EXPECTED
LEVEL
AM
% Correct in
tests
End Ks1
2b
L3
2S
S3E
65%
85%
End Ks2
4b
L6
6S
S7E
65%
85%
ABLE MATHEMATICIANS
The new curriculum encourages teachers to look at deeper learning if
children reach ARE early.
For example, a Year 2 child, achieving S3R in the Spring Term 2 would
be performing exceptionally well. At this point, they should be given
lots of mastery and deeper learning activities.
Should s/he achieve S3R in the Summer Term 1, then we would then
look to move them onto Stage 3 material as there would be sufficient
evidence that s/he was excelling in Mathematics.
Children Needing Extra Support
Children performing below ARE are identified
and intervention is provided.
They may also be given a Power of 2 Book
We are finding that AM is helping to plug gaps in
learning and children are making accelerated
progress through this method of teaching.
How do pupils learn their
tables?
• Tables are expected to be learnt by Year Group.
• Pupils are now expected to have learnt their tables - 1-12 – by the end of Y4. However Y5 is
probably more realistic, at least initially, and that is what appears on the child’s ‘tables sticker
sheet’.
• The system aims for children to be able to say their tables in order without hesitation (bronze
level); in any order they are asked (silver level) and the associated divisional facts (gold level).
• Tables are tested in class by the class teacher rather than their Maths teacher. Please let class
teachers know if your child is struggling
Ways To Help At Home
The Prompt Books are great for homework
and can be found on the Website.
Help your child with their targets– use the
Prompt Books as a Guide.