Maths mastery in a primary classroom

When planning expositions and activities that support pupils’ needs, keep in mind that it is key for pupils to obtain a high success rate in the tasks that they attempt (Rosenshine 2012). For pupils who require additional support, ensuring success does not mean differentiating by providing less challenging tasks. Indeed it is a common misconception that differentiation is about personalising learning, when in fact it is a subtle process of giving feedback and providing effective scaffolds to support pupils in achieving common learning goals (Sherrington and Stafford 2019). In ‘Principles of Instruction’, Rosenshine (2012) describes scaffolds as a temporary support used to assist learners that are gradually withdrawn as learners develop competence. In contrast to a view of differentiation that involves adapting expectations, scaffolding means that we can maintain the same high expectations for all pupils and support them to obtain success in the challenging tasks that we set. Pupi