The information will provide detail on emerging pedagogy and research that demonstrates an impact on improving numeracy and mathematics outcomes for young people.

The SWAY resource outlines:

1. rationale
2. COVID-19 recovery
3. summary
4. thematic review: what is working well
5. South Ayrshire
6. examples of other schools demonstrating emerging practice
7. research and links
8. reflective questions and self-evaluation wheel

Explore this resource

There is emerging evidence of positive impact reported when:

• pedagogy ensures children gain a depth of understanding rather than relying on procedures and algorithms
• manipulatives are used to support understanding
• the concrete, pictorial abstract model is promoted
• mathematical reasoning is developed through use a variety of approaches, for example bar modelling or non-routine tasks
• discussion of strategies is encouraged through talking about number calculations

The biggest impacts observed are when a school or secondary department work together to review their teaching and learning, plan collaboratively, reflect and review changes. 

Improvement questions

Senior Leaders

• Where are the strengths in our curriculum, learning and teaching and attainment in numeracy and mathematics?
• How clearly do we know our priorities for improvement and how convincing are our plans and strategies?
• Where do numeracy and mathematics feature in our improvement planning?
• How well do we use the four curriculum contexts, real-world topics and wider contexts and contributions to add value and credibility to our programmes in numeracy and mathematics?
• Among our professional learning targets, do we need to do anything to improve our capacity for generating and analysing attainment data?

Middle leaders and practitioners

• What response do I see from children and young people when we are working on numeracy and mathematics?
• What impact do my approaches and pedagogy have on them, in terms of outcomes progression and achievements?
• Do I have a clear understanding of current thinking on high-quality learning and teaching in numeracy and mathematics, relevant to the children and young people I work with?
• Do my opportunities for professional learning give me confidence that my practices are effective and improving?