Skip to main content

England v Wales: Who teaches Maths better?

England V Wales: Who teaches Maths better?

Times are changing in Wales, there is a new Curriculum focus and in Maths there are 5 proficiencies that the government want to see. Here's my take as a new HOD crossing the border from England.

The Welsh government have overhauled the curriculum and not just in Maths. They have identified key statements of what matters and laid out principles for progressing in each subject. 

Maths in every country is the same though surely....

Well yes... we still focus on Number, Algebra, Geometry and Statistics.
But also no....in Wales it is mandatory to use their 5 proficiencies to progress students in Maths. This isn't an explicit thing in England.

The 5 proficiencies are: conceptual understanding, fluency, logical thinking, strategic competence and communication with symbols

Lots of big words. But if you dive deeper into the detail that the Welsh government provides on each of them it is no different to what the NCETM in England recommend with their 5 big ideas. 



It is obviously a mindset shift for some teachers who may have been teaching purely procedures. To me, call it what you want, 5 big ideas, 5 proficiencies. It is just good maths teaching. 

I'll admit I don't like the wording the Welsh government use. I'm a simple man so simple words work better for me! But I do think Wales emphasises algebraic understanding slightly more with the idea of communicating with symbols, justifications and proof. 

I don't like, and have never liked the idea of any of these lists as being a tick box or things to explicitly plan for. Like everything else in Maths, it is all interconnected. You need to understand concepts to support with logical thinking. Students need to be fluent as well as being able to communicate effectively. 

In summary, I like that both in England and Wales we are explicitly naming what good Maths teaching should look like. Just look at the work of Doug Lemov. Putting a name to something allows you to focus on it and directly improve it. It gives departments areas to focus on, but let's not isolate ideas/proficiencies or make it a tick box exercise, they are all interconnected and needed for students to progress in Maths. 

Popular posts from this blog

Literacy in Maths

I'm a Maths teacher, I teach numbers. Why is Literacy so important for me? Well….here's why: "Literacy is fundamental for success in school and later life. Students who cannot read, write and communicate effectively are highly unlikely to access the challenging academic curriculum in secondary school and are more likely to have poor educational outcomes across all subjects." (Link 3)  Unfortunately there are a lot of Maths teachers who believe (wrongly) that literacy is a thing that the English department do. They see it as a tick box for observations. Rather than being an essential component of students being able to learn maths.  -  So what does it look like in Maths? Answer the question: Blindle 4x + 6 Are you able to do it?  This is the challenge a lot of students face in Mathematics. Subject specific vocabulary can seem really confusing to a lot of students. Understanding what a keyword is asking of students is often the hardest part of a question and can hold s...
Read more

Finish the day with an empty inbox

Most people use their email inbox incorrectly. It isn't a to do list, it isn't a calendar, it isn't a filing cabinet. Here's how I use my inbox and finish every day with 0 emails! Firstly we need to rethink how we send emails: 1. Ideally speak in person. No email sent, no email to reply to. 2. If you are sending a quick message or asking a small question, especially within your department/team you could make use of instant messaging e.g. Microsoft teams, WhatsApp, Google chats etc I think Adam Boxer uses this in his department. 3. If you have to send an email, make sure you only send it to those who need to see it, no whole school emails or CCing lots of people. 4. Include as much information as possible. Make it so that you shouldn't need to receive a reply or if you do it is only one email. Tell them what they need to do, by when and what finished looks like, be specific. If arranging meetings, give a range of times to meet up and have the other person decide what...
Read more