Equity for all pupils: Blackpool schools open their classrooms

In an area of real social and educational disadvantage, three Blackpool schools engaging with the Teaching for Mastery Programme opened their doors to local teachers to show how the programme can improve outcomes for pupils and raise aspirations. They demonstrated how, with the right support, teaching for mastery can enable change in the toughest circumstances.

Organised and supported by Abacus North West Maths Hub, the open lessons gave teachers from across Blackpool, a priority education investment area (PEIA), the opportunity to observe live teaching. The teachers were able to reflect collaboratively and discuss how fidelity to the principles of teaching for mastery can support equity for all pupils.

At each event, between 20 and 30 visiting teachers observed a lesson delivered by a Primary Mastery Specialist and took part in a structured post-lesson discussion.

Year 3 lesson at Boundary Primary School

Boundary Primary School, a two-form entry school with 66% of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium, 25% with SEND and 17% with English as an additional language, has been on a long journey to embed high expectations and consistency across the curriculum.

Year 3 teacher, Michelle Hooson taught a lesson which focused on multiplication. Collaborative planning with the Maths Hub team ensured the lesson exemplified careful small steps, purposeful questioning, and strong use of representations.

Teachers watching the lesson noticed:

• pupils using precise mathematical language confidently
• careful use of examples and non-examples to build deep understanding
• structured questioning that encouraged children to explain and justify their thinking.

Teaching a lesson in front of colleagues can be daunting, but Michelle shared the benefits of the experience: ‘Seeing teaching for mastery in practice is the best way to develop your own practice and, as the teacher teaching, it makes you deeply reflect. My experiences of open lessons have always been positive – I have never once felt like I was being judged, as the focus is very clearly on noticing how the children are learning the maths.’

Michelle has noticed the impact that teaching for mastery has had on the pupils.
‘It has improved pupils' mathematical thinking. Children are now more able to apply what they know in a range of contexts, they see patterns, make links and can explain their thinking in a much clearer way.’

Boundary Primary has worked closely with Abacus Maths Hub for nearly a decade, but they are still constantly looking to develop their practice and refine their approach.

Headteacher, Helen Moyes reflected: ‘Nine years ago there were no systems in place and every class was doing something different. Now, we have high expectations, a coherent curriculum and a belief that all children can do maths.’

‘Great session with a lot of learning points to take away!’ – visiting teacher.

Year 4 lesson at St Cuthbert’s Catholic Academy

St Cuthbert’s Catholic Academy serves a community with high levels of deprivation and a growing number of pupils from asylum-seeking families. The Year 4 class has 48% of pupils eligible for Pupil Premium funding and a third of the class receives family support. Through sustained engagement with the Maths Hub and a consistent approach, the school has built a culture where all pupils can achieve in maths.

For the open lesson, Gabriella May taught a session focusing on multiplication.

Teachers watching the lesson observed:

• strong use of mathematical vocabulary
• representations that supported all learners to access the mathematics
• opportunities for pupils to reason, explain, and build on each other’s ideas.

Heather Martin, Executive Assistant Principal and Assistant Maths Hub Lead, described the school’s journey:
‘We’ve worked with the hub for several years and our consistency from Reception to Year 6 is what allows all children to achieve—even those who have just arrived or are from difficult family circumstances.’

Reflecting on the transformation, Heather shared:
‘Years ago, before working with the Maths Hub and teaching for mastery, the SATs results were around 20% and there was a culture of ‘just get through the content’ – a lot of hard work has been done to change this over the years.’

The school is now consistently achieving maths SATs results in line with, or above, national average.

‘Initially, changing over to teaching for mastery seemed like a big job but we’ve chipped away at it and now we’re in a much better position.’

Despite the challenges, the school is part of a trust that prioritises and supports professional development and collaborative planning. St Cuthbert’s is a single-form entry school but links with another primary school across the town in the same trust: ‘Cover is often tricky, I beg, steal and borrow to make things work but we are realistic – we can’t send every member of staff on CPD at the same time, but we invest in our staff. We always have a plan of where we want to be and there are still barriers every day, but we have to keep adapting and plan for that as a maths team.’

‘Thank you for sharing your expertise!’ – visiting teacher.

Year 6 lesson at Thames Primary Academy

In Year 6 at Thames Primary Academy, where 72% of pupils are eligible for Pupil Premium, the focus on small steps, oracy and deep mathematical understanding has been pivotal to their success.

The open lesson, taught by Rebekah Aspin, was on ratio and scale factors, which is often regarded as a difficult concept to teach. Carefully planned to build conceptual understanding, the lesson demonstrated:

• high levels of pupil talk and use of precise mathematical language
• strong use of representations to support generalisation
• pupils confidently using and explaining terms such as 'multiplicative', 'variable' and 'commutativity'.

Teachers watching the lesson noticed how well-embedded oracy structures supported all pupils to think deeply and explain their reasoning clearly. They also commented that the pupils had confidence with their times tables, which helped to reduce their mental load and focus on the new learning. Rebekah praised the Mastering Number Programme, which the school uses in both Reception and Key Stage 1 and in Key Stage 2, in improving the children’s fluency.

The school have been involved with the Maths Hub for around seven years. The use of small-step planning, informed by NCETM Curriculum Prioritisation and Oak materials, has moved teaching away from surface-level approaches. Natalie Wheatley, Assistant Headteacher and maths lead, commented: ‘We’ve noticed fewer children falling behind with the small steps from the NCETM materials… it’s been truly transformative’.

‘Thank you for a fantastic opportunity to see a live lesson in another school. I feel I have gained so much from watching the lesson, participating in the feedback session, and talking to other maths teachers and leads from the Blackpool area.’ – visiting teacher.

Growing a community of practice

The three open lessons demonstrated the power of collaborative professional learning. The teachers who attended appreciated the chance to watch live teaching, reflect together, and deepen their understanding of teaching for mastery.

Heather Martin, Assistant Maths Hub Lead, explained:
‘We often don’t get the opportunity to go into other classrooms and have professional conversations about what we see. These events allowed teachers to do just that—see teaching for mastery in action and then talk deeply about why certain choices were made.’

Kathryn McGregor, Maths Hub Lead, added:
‘In Shanghai, professional development is built around teachers collaboratively planning, watching each other’s lessons and building on practice. They use a phrase which roughly translates to, ‘Throwing away a brick to get a diamond’ – when we open our classrooms, we share lessons, encourage rich discussion, and develop expertise, which allows for further refinement and development of teaching and learning. This is incredibly effective professional development. This professional collaboration is exactly what we want to foster in our Maths Hub community.’