Paula Murray-Mower
As someone who has always loved maths and who gets excited about solving a problem that has really made me think and work creatively with numbers, I am passionate about empowering children to feel that buzz of mathematical success too. Using ‘my best friend and second best friend in maths’ helps drive this.
Hearing that “Yes!” across the classroom as the ‘penny drops’ or the realisation of being right after showing perseverance and resilience is always a thrill for both teachers and pupils. As a teacher, ‘borrowing that mistake’ along the way is a really powerful tool for addressing misconceptions but:
These are some of the questions I raise in my training and support.
I feel strongly that we need to spend more time teaching children how to learn essential number facts – these just don’t sink in after a few lessons, having been told to learn them off by heart. Fluency is not just about knowing basic facts but the ability to manipulate these facts and understand how they work together. Achieving arithmetical fluency supports a host of quick and easy mental calculation strategies, avoiding the over-reliance on inefficient column methods that we often see in adulthood… and in SATs when Year 6 are labouring over a method with little or no understanding of the maths being tested. Why would we ever expect 3004-2998 to be calculated vertically?
I so often meet children who have reached Year 6 and are cramming the maths that they need for the SATs then they have forgotten it by mid-August as it never really stuck. I believe conceptual understanding is crucial for long-lasting learning and to enable children to unpick a problem and see the maths within. My work with leaders, teachers, pupils and carers aims to do this in realistic and memorable ways.
For those who don’t know me or my work, I was in senior leadership in two Redbridge primary schools for over 13 years and have been working with leaders and teaching staff, in schools and through central training, to develop mathematics teaching and learning for over 22 years, including working for the L.A. School Improvement Team as a maths consultant for 8 years. I now work as an independent mathematics consultant but have also had many years’ experience successfully developing the leadership skills of other middle leaders so it’s not just maths that I know and love.
Up to 2023, as both a consultant and throughout my time as a senior leader in school, I worked as the L.A. Lead KS1 Maths Moderator for the London Borough of Redbridge (LBR). I was involved in the recruitment of moderators and trained the maths moderation team; delivered the annual moderation training to all LBR Year 2 teachers in preparation for the end of Year 2 statutory assessments and worked with both English and Maths Moderators during the moderation visits. I quality assured visits for both English and maths and endeavoured to ensure senior leaders, teachers and moderators reached agreements that supported both the judgements of pupil’s attainment and the schools’ development. I also held the ‘re-moderation surgery’ for maths at the end of the moderation period to review evidence that needed resubmitting.
I have worked in schools, using Lesson Study to improve pedagogy and practice through the use of research lessons and pupil voice for over 8 years. I am passionate about the impact on teaching and learning that this has in schools, particularly on teachers’ attitudes to changing their practice and on learners’ attitudes to their own abilities. As formal lesson observations are being used less frequently in schools now, my training sessions and Lesson Study collaborations are proving to be a more valuable way to ‘take a picture’ of the impact of teacher learning on pupil learning, which in-turn positively impacts whole school development, putting best practice into policy.
My work on assessment and curriculum development, coupled with the skills development of teachers and leaders through real experience, such as Lesson Study research lessons, makes a significant impact on pupil and teacher learning.
Anyone who has ever attended one of my maths subject knowledge courses would know why my logo is the number 10 and any children I have taught would also know that my favourite multiplication fact is 9 x 6 = 54!
Training provided is based on years of teaching experience, as well as ongoing and recent evidence-based work with children and adults in schools.
If you need training for your own school or would like to suggest a theme for central training or for a group of schools, please get in touch.
Please contact me if you are not already on my mailing list and I will keep you updated with any additional courses that I run as the year progresses.