Teaching for Mastery

• Mastering maths means pupils acquiring a deep, long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject.
• The phrase ‘teaching for mastery’ describes the elements of classroom practice and school organisation that combine to give pupils the best chances of mastering maths.

Key principles include:

• A rejection of the idea that some people just cannot do maths.
• Whole class teaching, where the focus is on all pupils working together on the same lesson content – leaving no pupil behind.
• Use of early intervention to ensure that pupils who struggle to grasp a concept are ready to move on in subsequent lessons.
• Lesson design ensures that learning is built in small steps, while learning is clearly sequenced and identifies key points and areas which pupils are more likely find difficult.
• Procedural fluency and conceptual understanding are developed in tandem because each supports the development of the other.
• The structure and connections within the mathematics are emphasised, so that pupils develop deep learning that can be sustained. This is supported by the use of well-chosen manipulatives and representations.
• A central element, which underpins Teaching for Mastery, are the Five Big Ideas. The diagram below shows how these ideas are bound together.