Action Research Cycles 

Our Story

Initial Analysis of Mathematics and Numeracy Teaching and Learning

Teaching and learning in the area of mathematics had been a focus since the school inspection in 2017 and, whilst the school had made progress, fundamentally teachers relied heavily on schemes of work in order to plan lessons. Whilst resources like this have their place, our vision for the teaching and learning of mathematics and numeracy needed to be much more focused on both developing pupils conceptual understanding, as well as using skills in real life settings.

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So how did changes develop?

As is the case with any action research, as momentum started to build, the project really started to fly. Although our initial question centered exclusively around the use of a concrete, pictorial and abstract approach, the project developed more and more into a focus on how we were able to support pupils to develop a deep understanding of key mathematical concepts. Whilst the use of manipulatives were certainly a part of this, they were not the only element of teaching and learning that we developed.

Concrete, Pictorial, Abstract Approach

Early in the Autumn Term we conducted a school audit of our resources. It became clear that, whilst we were reasonably well equipped for the teaching of measure and shape, we had very limited resources to develop pupils understanding of key number concepts. As a result, we settled upon the idea of creating 'prove it' kits for every classroom. The idea was that children would be provide with a key centre of resources, which would help them develop their understanding of resources. As teachers, we would know that every class had access to a consistent bank of resources. Money inevitably became an issue, so we decided that it was realistic to provide each class with six of the "prove it" kits. The kits included: Numicon (large kit); rods which are weighted and are very useful for fractions; number counters from 0.001 to 10,0000 and a tape measure which was marked in both mm, cm, and inches. We spent time developing our approaches and, during reflections, it became apparent that Numicon had become particularly useful. We worked as staff and created a consistent guide for Key Stage Two teachers to use when they were using Numicon. The resource is 60 pages long and offers a very simple explanation of the entire Progression Step Three curriculum. The resource has been extremely useful to teachers, support staff and children. The "prove it" boxes have become a key part of teaching and learning as an approach to develop pupils' understanding of key concepts. Whilst we don't follow a set planning guide, teachers use the kits to introduce each new concept throughout the year.

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Focus Group Teaching

During our discussion early in the Autumn Term, we wanted to explore different ways of teaching maths. The fact that we had just returned to school after the first Covid-19 lockdown meant that it felt right to make a change. As a result, we introduced a carousel approach to use in every Key Stage Two class. We decided that the approach would work well as it would allow us to work using the manipulatives with small groups of pupils throughout the week. All teachers recognise that there is a great importance to working in small groups with pupils as this allows you to identify and challenge misconceptions as they arise. The fact that we were beginning teaching using manipulatives meant that this was particularly important and it allowed us the opportunity to question pupils, ensuring that the manipulatives were helping them to recognise and explore the concepts that we were supporting them to understand.

Outdoor Learning Element

The covid-19 pandemic gave added momentum as we thought more about how we could take learning outside. We used asymmetric Friday afternoons to discuss how we could use the outdoors, exploring ideas and pedagogy. We already had teachers using outdoor spaces, particularly in progression steps one and two, but we didn’t want these activities to become a tick box. We didn’t want staff to simply send a group outside to do something that they could have done inside. We wanted the experiences to be authentic and rich.

Outside of the classrooms (years four, five and six), we created an outdoor maths area which comprised of resources which would help children to explore different concepts. We purchased a simple shed which allowed us to store resources for pupils to use whilst learning.

Many of the resources for a concrete way for pupils to learn key concepts. For example, have stones which have numbers on (0.1-1000) measuring equipment, maps, different length sticks, chalk etc.

As well as creating an outdoor learning area which could be used day to day, we also wanted to start using out outdoor learning space. The school is extremely lucky to have been donated a nine-acre field to which we have access via a gate on the back of the playground. Despite the fact that the school had had access to the site since 2017 the gate and barely been opened and the area was a completely unused as a stimulus and resource. Throughout the autumn term, groups explored the field, generating maths questions and ideas. For example, pupils wanted to know how to calculate the height and age of a tree. We provided them with a range of different ways to calculate this, providing a real-life context for there maths skills.

Simple tasks such as tree planting became a rich source of learning outdoors. Pupils asked questions such as, "Will the tree be taller than me by the time that I leave Johnston?" and "Will it be fully grown next summer?". Teachers then planned opportunities to explore these questions with pupils and I am certain that these real life contexts for measure where pupils tracked the average high development of a tree will last in pupils memories for a much longer time then simply completing written tasks in class.

The outdoor learning element of our work became so popular that it permeated all areas of our curriculum with pupils using pupil voice sessions to continually note their desire to develop their learning in the outdoors.

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What are we learning individually and as a school, as a result of the enquiry process?

We feel that we have been able to accelerate our improvements in the teaching of mathematics and numeracy, focusing on the principles of the new curriculum. We have been able to allocate time to allow staff to develop. The Covid-19 pandemic meant that we were able to remove other distractions and events from our calendar, 'scraping the barnacles off the boat' and speeding up school improvement. Professional learning opportunities inspired staff and gave them the knowledge and skills to develop the style of teaching and learning that we were discussing.

What’s working well? What aspects are most useful?

Unquestionably the combination of the 'prove it' kits and outdoor learning has been a real winner in terms of pupil progress, pupil voice and teacher agency. Whilst we still feel that we are at an early stage of our outdoor learning pedagogy, the work that we have started has created a culture change across the school and teachers are constantly discussing and developing different ideas to support pupils. The Numicon guide, which we developed, has allowed us to support support staff who were not able to access all of the professional learning opportunities that we provided.

Pupil progress data highlights the success of the project. 50% of pupils achieved a SAS of 115+. This is staggeringly high and previously would have been unimaginable. Every pupil in Key Stage Two (bar two) improved their SAS and the two pupils who didn't had had poor attendance throughout the year. It is our contention that these results confirm the success of our project and they are consistent with our desire to become the highest performing primary school in the cluster. We are very ambitious for our pupils and we would like to ensure that we continue with this accelerated progress.

What has been more of a challenge? What will we do differently in future?

One challenge which we encountered was the concern that pupils work books might not be as full as they would have been in we were following a traditional text book approach delivered via whole class teaching. Whilst this was somewhat of a concern for senior leadership, we decided to maintain our course. It is our contention that our strong pupil progress demonstrates the success of our teaching and learning approaches and that, whilst are workbooks might not be as full as they might have been, ultimately this is not the aim of teaching maths.

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What did we learn individually and as a school, as a result of the enquiry process?

First of all, I think that one of the most valuable things that we learnt was that it is important to develop your vision and research question as a collective. As I have mentioned previously, I identified the research question at the beginning and began leading the project. When we started working with staff, they were fully on board with all of my ideas, but had great ambitions to take the work outside and explore ideas and resources both inside and outside of the classroom. Whilst this doesn't matter, as action research is meant to stimulate discussions and collaboration, during our next cycle of action research I will ensure that we develop our research question as a whole staff. We also learnt that it is important to hit the ground running as, otherwise, before you know where you are the weeks can start to roll away . We used some of the time during the preparation days at the start of term to get ready for our enquiry and, as a result, we felt that we developed a good head of momentum straight away.

As a school, we have also recognised the importance of focusing on just one area of teaching and learning to improve. Often. schools try to work on several different projects at once and staff become lost and confused. Deadlines approach and staff haven't had a chance to work on the ideas which they discussed months ago. By focusing on just one thing, we were able to make space for thinking, planning and reflecting and it allowed us to really develop momentum. This was partly caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, but in the future we will aim to make space for learning in this way, focusing on one strategic aim.

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What might you have done differently?

If were to begin the project again, we would have spent more time ensuring that we were including support staff in all of our professional learning. As we introduced a carousel approach in maths, support staff became particularly important to teaching and learning. We used our Friday afternoons to develop staff professional learning and, as a result, support staff were busy looking after children. During the spring term we recognised this weakness and used an inset day to run workshops for support staff. Nevertheless, in the future we are going to ensure that support staff are included in our work with teachers from the beginning.

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Would you recommend professional enquiry to colleagues?

Absolutely. Asymmetric Fridays have been extremely valuable for Johnston C.P. School and without these I think that it is likely that we would have struggled to develop the momentum and energy that we generated. We are planning on following a simple cycle of action research year on year to work on our school development priorities and drive teaching and learning in every classroom. I also believe that it is important to frame your work around a really important concept or idea that is likely to enhance pupil progress and learning.

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What advice would you give to schools considering undertaking their own professional enquiry?

Advice for other schools:

• Encourage people to take calculated risks.

• Allow the project to form its own course as this will believer the greatest benefits.

• Form a small group of teachers to lead the pedagogy and disseminate it across the school.

• Ensure that support staff also have the opportunity to experience professional learning opportunities.

• Invest in the required resources. Often, a small amount of investment goes a long way. Make sure that if a project requires money, the resources are purchased.