- Podcast
What mastery has done for our school
Jenny Laurie, deputy head and maths teacher at a central London secondary school, talks about being one of the very earliest to adopt a teaching for mastery approach in maths
- Published: 27/11/2019
Jenny Laurie is a deputy head and maths teacher at The St Marylebone CE School in central London. The school was one of the very earliest to adopt a teaching for mastery approach in maths.
When two maths teachers visited Shanghai, they were particularly struck by the collaborative nature of curriculum planning there, and resolved to introduce a more collegiate way of planning at St Marylebone.
Initially something of a sceptic, Jenny explains why she has been completely won over by the changes they have made, and what she hopes this might mean for their GCSE results in 2020.
No time to listen to a podcast? In this short read, Jenny writes about Why mastery makes us optimistic about our next GCSE results.
Show notes
Taking part in the discussion are:
- Jenny Laurie, deputy head, The St Marylebone CE School
- Gwen Tresidder, Communications Manager, NCETM
| 00:52 | The school and Jenny’s role |
| 02:55 | Why the school changed the way they taught maths |
| 04:24 | How the maths department used to work |
| 05:05 | How they decided to change |
| 08:41 | The first collaborative planning meeting (on fractions) |
| 11:31 | Deciding on a system of planning meetings |
| 12:40 - | How is time for these meetings created now? |
| 14:44 | How collaborative planning saves time |
| 15:17 | How the planning sessions work |
| 16:51 | Retention and development of staff |
| 17:42 | Jenny’s development as a class teacher |
| 19:55 | Sending one teacher out of school for CPD |
| 20:53 | Not scripted lessons |
| 21:36 | When a planned lesson doesn’t work |
| 22:58 | The effects on students (engagement, results…) |
| 25:34 | What the data is showing about attainment of all students |
| 26:55 | Enabling staff to be excellent teachers |
| 28:00 | Other departments’ interest in collaborative planning |
| 30:01 | Jenny’s advice to other schools’ senior leaders |
