Maths

Specialist Leaders of Education

One of the main strengths of Kingsland CE Primary School is the expertise of the staff. The school actively promotes high quality Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and teachers constantly strive to be the best they can be. The teaching staff have a wealth of knowledge and experience across the Primary curriculum, enriching the lives of all our children. To this end, three of our teachers are qualified Specialist Leaders of Education, and are able to provide support and assistance to other schools. If you would like to access this support, please contact the headteacher on 01568 708436 to discuss your requirements.

Stewart Debenham

Mr Debenham is the headteacher of Kingsland CE Primary School and his areas of expertise lie in Mathematics and Assessment. He is a Primary Specialist Mathematics Teacher (MaST) as well as a Teaching for Mastery Specialist Teacher for the Salop, Herefordshire and Wolverhampton (SHaW) Maths Hub. He also holds the NCETM Professional Development Lead qualification and has been a Key Stage 1 county moderator. Mr Debenham is able to support schools with all aspects of primary Mathematics.

At Kingsland CE Primary School, we follow a Teaching for Mastery approach in mathematics, following the Primary National Curriculum.

What does it mean to master mathematics?

A mathematical concept or skill has been mastered when a pupil can represent it in multiple ways, has the mathematical language to communicate related ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations.

Mastery is a journey and long-term goal, achieved through exploration, clarification, practice and application over time. At each stage of learning, pupils should be able to demonstrate a deep, conceptual understanding of the topic and be able to build on this over time.

This is not about just being able to memorise key facts and procedures, which tends to lead to superficial understanding that can easily be forgotten. Pupils should be able to select which mathematical approach is most effective in different scenarios.