A Work Group consists of pairs of teachers (Mastery Advocates) from two or more schools. These
Mastery Advocates will work closely with a Secondary Mastery Specialist to develop their understanding of the principles and practices associated with teaching for mastery and apply them in their own classrooms. When ready, and supported by the Mastery Specialist, they will collaborate with teachers within their own departments to embed these principles and practices more widely. Work will initially focus on Key Stage 3, but it is intended that this will extend to Key Stage 4.
The design of the Work Group will be bespoke for each department, dependent on their current understanding of teaching for mastery, and tailored to the needs of the Mastery Advocates and their own stages of development, but initially is likely to include:
• Mastery Specialists leading professional development sessions with four or more Mastery Advocates (two from each school) to enable them to understand the principles and practices associated with teaching for mastery
• Advocates observing the Secondary Mastery Specialist in the specialist’s own school with an opportunity to deconstruct the lesson
• Joint planning of individual lessons, sequences of lessons or longer units of work
• The Mastery Specialist observing a lesson and reflecting on their observations with Advocates.
When ready, the focus will shift to supporting the Mastery Advocates working with their own departments. At this point the work is likely to include:
• Mastery Specialists supporting the Advocates to enable them to run professional development sessions for their department colleagues; this could include shared planning (and possibly co-leading) of sessions, with the intention that the Advocates take the leading role in working with their departments
• Mastery Specialists working alongside Advocates to support other departmental members, as appropriate
• Mastery Specialists observing and reflecting on their observations with the Mastery Advocates, this might be related to: a joint observation, a professional development session, a departmental meeting or a planning meeting
• Mastery Specialists working alongside Advocates to develop schemes of work and other departmental systems and structures to allow for a full teaching for mastery approach.
It is important to recognise that sustained change and development in maths teaching requires a long-term commitment, and the Development Work Group is the first stage of substantial support offered by Maths Hubs. There is an expectation that schools will continue in subsequent years. Departments will continue to work internally on their own practices and systems supported by a Secondary Mastery Specialist, but in parallel with this they join a wider community of schools who are all also working on developing teaching for mastery. These wider groups offer opportunities for ongoing support, development, and practice exchange.