Learning in context - Timmergreens Primary School and Inverbrothock Primary School, Arbroath
Sylvia Beisok and Jill Duncan teach P1 classes in large, town schools. The way in which they approached PACT, and their reasons for doing so, are similar in many ways.
- Both felt that commercial schemes were the driving force behind their teaching.
- Both felt that an inordinate amount of time was being spent on written tasks, in order to ‘get through the scheme’, and that often these worksheets/workbook pages were indeed inappropriate or unnecessary.
- Both were keen to change their practice and meet teachers of a similar mindset.
Both teachers place a high focus on Interactive Mental Maths, using a variety of practical resources: number fans, digit cards, flip flops, number squares, etc. Commercially produced and teacher-devised games are used for reinforcement.
Every effort is made to set the learning within real contexts. Sylvia’s pupils worked together to turn a round table in their classroom into an analogue clock. The clock is ‘set’ at various times in the day and serves as a useful teaching and assessment tool. In number, pupils already showing confidence in handling larger amounts are given responsibility for collecting and counting the dinner money, under supervision.
Much discussion has centred around the names and properties of shapes. Pupils took part in a ‘Shape Walk’ and worked co-operatively to identify shapes within their environment. Observations were later recorded in the form of 2D pictures and 3D models.
This year, Jill’s school has used no commercially produced workbooks/worksheets at all in P1 and P2. Sylvia and her stage partner have been given the autonomy, by their senior management team, to use such resources only when they feel it is appropriate to do so. This was explained to parents in order to relieve any anxiety caused by incomplete workbooks being taken home.
A new emphasis on oral and practical work
Though the emphasis is clearly on oral and practical work, pupils in both classes use dry wipe boards and jotters to record their thinking. The teachers now have a daily, focused ‘Maths Time’ where pupils are taught as a class or in ability/mixed ability groups, depending on the activity. Where group work is deemed necessary, classroom assistants, parents and nursery nurses provide invaluable support, simply by talking to the children about their learning.
In addition, the introduction of ‘Thinking Pairs’ and ‘Talk Partners’ has enabled pupils to become learning resources for each other.
Both Jill and Sylvia believe that being free from the burden of endless worksheets/workbook pages, which pupils often found difficult to complete independently, has bought them quality teaching time. They feel far better informed about what their pupils understand, and can see straight away those who require extra support.
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