TFM Secondary
What is teaching for mastery?
Teaching for Mastery is a pedagogical approach to teaching mathematics effectively. The approach to Professional Development underpinning Teaching for Mastery is a long-term and sustainable approach to PD which should have school-wide impact. The following key ingredients are central to this approach: developing a cohesive curriculum; considering small manageable steps in lessons; selecting effective representations that expose important underlying mathematical structures; understanding the importance of variation practice; developing pupils mathematical thinking and securing mathematical fluency.
These all link to the ‘Five Big Ideas’ developed by the NCETM:
The fully funded programme enables two teachers from a school to become ‘Mastery Advocates’. They will be part of a Work Group for a year with 5 days bespoke support from a Mastery Specialist to develop professional knowledge and expertise to embed teaching for mastery in their classroom. Mastery Advocates should be teachers with the commitment, experience and authority to lead developmental work across a maths department. The support of the head of maths, and the headteacher or a member of SLT, is also essential.
Please go to the application page to find out about funding and how to apply.
Secondary Teaching for Mastery Embedding Year Support is available for those departments who participated in the previous year’s Secondary Teaching for Mastery Development Work Group, and who are beginning to embed their work on teaching for mastery. Mastery Advocates will work closely with a Mastery Specialist to help them embed teaching for mastery approaches across the whole department. Specialists will provide three days of bespoke support tailored to each school.
The focus will be on constructing or refining a coherent development plan and supporting and leading the whole department in realising the aims of that development plan. The school will also be part of a Secondary Teaching for Mastery Sustaining Work Group with other schools.
Please go to the application page to find out about funding and how to apply.
Departments who have previously participated in Embedding Stage move into Sustaining Work Groups. While the Mastery Advocates from these departments will be significant members of the Work Group, the whole department is a member of this professional learning community. This stage is ongoing.
Each Work Group will have a focus for the year. The foci for 2024/25 are:
- developing mathematical thinking
- developing fluency with multiplicative reasoning in Key Stage 3
- a bespoke teaching for mastery focus to include lesson study
Please go to the application page to find out about funding and how to apply.