‘Maths mastery’ is gaining traction as the preferred educational approach in schools, but is it appropriate for the youngest children, asks Charlotte Goddard

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Mastery’ is the buzzword when it comes to teaching maths. In its draft document setting out proposed changes to the EYFS framework, for example, the Department for Education says children should develop ‘a secure base of knowledge from which mathematical mastery is built’.

However, there are a number of ways that ‘maths mastery’ can be interpreted, both broad and narrow. The term can be used to refer to a specific way of teaching maths which originates in Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong. A teacher exchange between China and the UK was followed by the Government-funded development of the Teaching for Mastery programme led by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM).

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