Great response to our Return to School Webinar
Posted 7th March 2021
With the return to school scheduled to begin from Monday 8th March, we held a free guidance webinar this week to provide guidance on planning for this change in delivery and learning.
We were delighted with the response, with 4000 delegates signing up to attend and over 2500 joining us live on the day. The webinar is also available to watch again on both our website and on Facebook, with nearly 18,000 views already recorded.
Ian Davies, Head of Curriculum for White Rose Maths, led the session, with a focus on:
• Priorities
• Curriculum
• Closing the gaps
• Assessment
• Thinking ahead to 2021/22.
Top priorities included the wellbeing of pupils and staff, and the task of getting pupils ready to learn again. Issues with where to pick up the curriculum were also highlighted, which include the varied experiences each pupil may have had with remote learning, leading to uncertainty as to current attainment. Our suggested approach to overcome these issues was outlined using examples in Year 1 and Year 10.
Ian referred to the DfE Operational Guidance to explain how we can use daily assessment to help close the gaps in learning, including low floor, high ceiling tasks, and reasoning questions to help address any misconceptions. A key point was to get pupils talking to each other, encouraging collaborative learning, and providing opportunities for teachers to eavesdrop mathematical conversations.
Finally, we looked ahead to 2021/22, acknowledging that there will still be a need for plan for closing the gaps. This includes our catch-up materials which will start from Summer 2021, as well as all our existing materials which can be used for recap. In addition, and excitingly, we will be producing some projects for Year 6 now that SATS will not be taking place. These will be fantastic to prepare pupils for their transition to secondary school. Keep an eye out for their release in early May.
To conclude, Ian outlined the key points to take away:
• The process will take time - not everything can be done at once
• Focus on key steps in learning
• “Go slow to go fast” (As quoted by Dr Debbie Morgan at our recent primary brunch)
• Pupils’ confidence will grow
• Our resources are available to support, including staff professional development.
One teacher commented “Thankful to hear the words today ‘this is a process, not an event’ at the White Rose Maths webinar this evening. Really well thought out CPD and so valuable in terms of getting our children back to a logical and measured way to best support all learners”
The full webinar is available to watch again on our Guidance Webinars page along with the PowerPoint slides.
