Rosalind Walford’s effort to create a maths scheme of work (“The Anti-Brainache Plan,” TES, April 26) is most praiseworthy. As she states, there is “no need to reinvent the wheel”.
Although there can be no one “right” way to produce such a scheme, there are certain pitfalls that should be avoided. For example, Rosalind Walford uses the headings “Year 1, Year 2”. It would be less prescriptive perhaps to re-label these “Level 1, Level 2”. This would allow for differentiation not only for children with special educational needs but also for the wide range of ability within each year group. In addition, identifying levels could be helpful for teachers in the end of year assessments.
Dr Julia Matthews
honorary research associate University of Greenwich
