School leader considerations

Thinking about implementation

Before making any changes to your school’s approach, it’s worth revisiting the Education Endowment Foundation’s A School’s Guide to Implementation. It offers a practical, evidence-informed framework to support planning and decision-making.

Carefully-planned professional development is key to successfully implementing any approach to mixed-age teaching. In many small or mixed-age schools, leaders need to think strategically about how to make time for:

• developing a clear, informed vision for maths teaching
• putting systems in place to support that vision
• creating and prioritising a professional development overview
• enabling the subject lead to access training and share it across the school
• building teacher subject knowledge and pedagogical confidence.

Planning ahead

Understanding how pupil numbers are likely to change over time can help school leaders take a longer view. Mapping out projected class structures using a five-year forecast tool creates space to think more creatively about how to plan the curriculum approach and make related organisational decisions.

In the case studies, you’ll find different examples of five-year forecasts, along with the leadership rationale behind them. 

To explore support options for developing teaching for mastery in a mixed-age setting, get in touch with your local Maths Hub. They can offer advice and access to a range of professional development opportunities, expert guidance and access to materials to help develop a mixed-age curriculum for your school.