Jenny Laurie is a deputy head and maths teacher at The St Marylebone CE School in central London. The school was one of the very earliest to adopt a teaching for mastery approach in maths.
When two maths teachers visited Shanghai, they were particularly struck by the collaborative nature of curriculum planning there, and resolved to introduce a more collegiate way of planning at St Marylebone.
Initially something of a sceptic, Jenny explains why she has been completely won over by the changes they have made, and what she hopes this might mean for their GCSE results in 2020.
Episode chapters
- 00:52: The school and Jenny’s role
- 02:55: Why the school changed the way they taught maths
- 04:24: How the maths department used to work
- 05:05: How they decided to change
- 08:41: The first collaborative planning meeting (on fractions)
- 11:31: Deciding on a system of planning meetings
- 12:40: How is time for these meetings created now?
- 14:44: How collaborative planning saves time
- 15:17: How the planning sessions work
- 16:51: Retention and development of staff
- 17:42: Jenny’s development as a class teacher
- 19:55: Sending one teacher out of school for CPD
- 20:53: Not scripted lessons
- 21:36: When a planned lesson doesn’t work
- 22:58: The effects on students (engagement, results…)
- 25:34: What the data is showing about attainment of all students
- 26:55: Enabling staff to be excellent teachers
- 28:00: Other departments’ interest in collaborative planning
- 30:01: Jenny’s advice to other schools’ senior leaders