Scott Wilkie Primary School
Newham, UK

In their own words

Our Maths — No Problem! journey

We began our Maths — No Problem! journey back in 2016. Maths mastery could only be introduced on a year-by-year basis, and as we wanted to offer all of our children the mastery approach immediately, we purchased a few copies of the MNP text books for teachers to dip into. Then, after the HoS attended Ban Har’s three-day course, the full potential of Maths — No Problem! was realised.

Following this, we introduced MNP throughout Key Stage 2, including Year 6. Initially, we didn’t benefit fully as we did not use all of the components, but eventually we realised how much more effective it was when we used the textbooks, workbooks, assessment papers and the online Maths Hub together.

The impact of Maths — No Problem! on teachers’ pedagogy, children’s deeper understanding of mathematical concepts and their improved ability to reason and problem solve ignited a newfound passion for maths across the school. All of which naturally led to high achievement outcomes in maths.

Our SLT have now all attended a three-day course. We continually refine our practice through annual whole school Inset training delivered by MNP consultants across both schools in the trust to cater to the differing needs of experienced and staff who are new to the MNP approach. This hands-on training has supported us to continually develop our teaching for mastery practice.

The training for newer staff has ensured that they have a clear understanding of the theory and practice behind MNP but has also helped to keep us up to date as the trainers themselves have refined their delivery. The more experienced practitioners’ Inset has allowed us to focus on specific areas according to current needs. Each Inset day has been exciting as it provides us with support on how to refine our practice.

Our staff now plan together with their partner teachers and a senior leader is always present for guidance and collaboration. Teachers talk through lessons in the morning and reflect on lessons together to inform their teaching of the next lesson. Also, all our staff now have access to MNP online resources that help them with planning. The textbooks and workbooks are now in every classroom and all senior leaders help with regular feedback, team teaching and monitoring.

Maths — No Problem! in our school

When our Head of School took part in the visit to Singapore with Ban Har, it the opportunity to experience lesson study — the lesson study approach is now embedded in our whole school. Lesson studies in Maths have played a key part in developing our practice. We have applied what we have learnt from MNP to other areas of our curriculum. The CPA and teaching for mastery approaches have transferred to other subjects such as science and humanities.

Our results were already respectable when we introduced MNP but have improved significantly. In 2018, 96% of children reached expected with 60% at greater depth which, given that we serve a challenging community which is also in the highest quartile for mobility and deprivation, is a testament to the successful implementation of MNP. Nick Gibb recognised this achievement, commending us on being in the top 2% of schools for progress.

We believe that great things in education should be shared so that all children have the opportunity to benefit from them. This is why we have invited other schools in to look at MNP at our school. We have seen the difference it has made for our children and believe all children should have the opportunity to benefit in this way. Our already established practice of working with and supporting other schools shows our strong belief in collaboration as an essential tool for school development.

Our passion and delivery of MNP has already impacted other schools who have visited us. Three schools, Calverton (Newham), Manor (Newham) and London Fields (Hackney) have taken on MNP as a result of their visits. A further school is now considering MNP and another school is due to visit next term. In addition, we have supported St. Luke’s (Newham) who sent staff to a Maths morning at our school where they observed lessons and discussed what they saw and difficulties they were having. They found the morning so useful that they requested a further morning for the rest of the staff to attend. As a result of the morning, staff are now much more confident delivering MNP.

We firmly believe in the whole-school CPA, textbook and workbook approach and advocate this. It has been an exciting journey with Maths — No Problem!