For those of you who have enjoyed my Autumn A plans for Maths using the mastery technique - here is the second half of the planning to bring us up to Christmas…(I know, right?!) Since I wrote these, I was asked to present training for Bucks Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire Maths Hub and contributed to the National (NCETM) research which will hopefully be of use to the new (sigh!) EYFS Curriculum ready to be launched next year. An honour and all that, but I found it all rather scary. However, I hope that you find my take on mastery in the EYFS of interest and of course you will need to adapt it to topics that you are doing to make it more interesting to young children (I tried to take out too much themed stuff so that more of you could use it) If you want more… I also have Spring A & B and Summer A & B also. Just need to find time to pop them on here!

It has been a very tiring term, but here it is by popular request - Summer A maths planning. I think we have 5 weeks in this half term, but I have put 6 on there for you anyway to give you some flexibility. There are some evidencing opportunities in here as we head towards Profile deadline day… I hope that a little pressure is eased for you all and I will try and get the Summer B out to you as soon as I can. Hope you like the picture of my cat Lily (sadly no longer with us) xxx

Updated August 2019: Plans include links to Development Matters, daily sessions lasting about half an hour suitable for a Reception class or lower set Year 1 class. Based on the mastery system, the lessons take small steps through the concepts from basic first principles. So children must learn to understand vocabulary such as ‘same’, ‘different’ and 'match’ They use the vocabulary with talk partners. There is variation so that higher ability children have a chance to shine and pursue challenge. The plans are written almost as a teacher ‘script’ with activities for the whole class indicated clearly, as well as questions and assessment for learning techniques. Please look at my other free resources as these may be mentioned to use in the lesson plans. Look out for Autumn 2 now available!

OK - well you asked for it! This set of planning includes an assessment grid for you to record your childrens’ understanding of all the different words we use for position. Very useful for EAL/SEN to see where to focus your teaching. These can be used in the setting as Positional maths is going on everywhere, all day long! Also features a week on Capacity - hopefully without tears (yours!)

These plans cover most of the Shape, Space and Measure objectives and that tricky subject Doubling and Halving in what I hope is a fun way. I have included 2 powerpoints that I made for this half term. If possible, though, do use them in conjunction with real objects as appropriate to young children and more in keeping with how they learn…now where is my set of spanners???

Introducing bar modelling through Duplo resource. Christmas themed - measuring tinsel Whole class instruction for one week for a Reception class using the method of teaching used in Shanghai (my interpretation of it anyway!)

A great start to your lesson - starting simple with 1, 2, 3 lollies - children shout out how many there are as quickly as they can. Moving on to dots.... more and more dots until we get up to 10 dots in different arrangements. Children begin to get a 'feel' for amounts and use pattern recognition (eg dice dot arrangements) to use as a strategy to help them calculate amounts quickly. Use the slideshow function to move quickly from slide to slide. You can even use the timer on slideshow to speed up or slow down the slides.

Based on the popular 'Write Dance&' scheme, a friend asked me to come up with a Pirate version for her topic. Like Write Dance, the teacher leads and models the actions. There is an active, action part to the session for gross motor control using both hands; followed by the same actions transferred onto paper and using both hands to strengthen fine motor development. This resource could be used in Pre-school and for older children with a need to tone their muscles for handwriting readiness!

For Maths Co-ordinators EYFS, KS1 and KS2 Leadership

You cannot be in denial for any longer....start of term is here (I know, groan!) So you have a new group of tiddlers starting your Reception class and your Senior Management want Baseline data RIGHT NOW or preferably sooner. So after you have wiped away the tears, where on the Development Matters document is the little one you are observing? I hope that you will be able to use the proforma that I have made to be able to group children 'best-fit' according to their developmental stage. Then you just need to present it to your senior boss in the format they are used to: eProfile, learning ladders etc I thank the wonderful website ABCDoes for giving me the idea for the general look of the proforma and the idea that if I can use this for baseline, then every child has their next steps ready to go. By then using the ABCDoes adult guided proforma, I can plan one or two adult guided activities using the baseline proforma to make sure every child is covering their next steps. Job done!

Hi Everyone! Well, we have nearly made it to the end of the year…you have done a great job and thank you to my followers. I hope that you have plenty of evidence for that all important data!!! This final stretch is only 5 weeks as there is always a little ‘give’ at this end of the year. We have themed problem solving based on football, animals and we learn to make our own board games. Trying to keep our learning fun to the end. I know it seems like an age away, but when it comes, have a fantastic summer break everyone! Best wishes Hexenkind x

So you have a new group of tiddlers starting your Reception class and your Senior Management want Baseline data RIGHT NOW or preferably sooner. So after you have wiped away the tears, where on the Development Matters document is the little one you are observing? I hope that you will be able to use the proforma to be able to group children 'best-fit' according to their developmental stage. I thank the wonderful website ABCDoes for giving me the idea for the general look of the proforma and the idea that if I can use this for baseline, then every child has their next steps ready to go. By then using the ABCDoes adult guided proforma, I can plan one or two adult guided activities using the baseline proforma to make sure every child is covering their next steps. Job done!

Summer is here and the time is right for… writing the christmas play!!! This is ‘Santa sorts it out’ - a script written with 11 speaking parts (minimal lines to learn, after all, these children are 5 and under) and 6 opportunities for dances (for all the non-speakers) There are songs that I have written to fit the tunes of well known nursery songs, so you may not need musical accompaniment, or you could find music only on youtube or music uploads or you may have a talented pianist if you are lucky! My year group has 90 children (3 classes) but this show can easily be adapted. Stage instructions are included in the script. Good luck and enjoy!

Is your school moving into the Shanghai/Singapore method for Maths Mastery? Key Stage 1 and 2 have lovely schemes of work and .....well, poor old Early Years have to get on and re-create the wheel from nothing?! Well, I've done the courses and have sharpened my tools to get started on the work for you. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me to continue with this - the more interest and reviews I get the more I can upload for you. This one looks at addition and subtraction, numbers 0,1,2 and 3 being one more/one less than each other. There is a little video hook for the start of the week to pique interest in magic tricks. Then the amazing ('cough') magic box/bag comes into its own..... have fun and be amaaaaazed! You're welcome :) Al

The Little Christmas Tree is a traditional christmas story about a tree that is not cut down for christmas but is decorated by the animals of the forest. This story has my own twist as my Head teacher wanted Santa and Mrs Santa and his elves to be involved too! There are 12 Narrators, 6 main acting parts (with speech) and 6 dances as we are a large Early Years with 90 children, but narrators could take on more lines and be reduced in number if you wish. The songs have been created to fit with well known nursery tunes that could be downloaded from youtube, a streaming service or even sung without accompaniment. We were lucky and had a pianist! I have tried to show you our seating arrangement at the end, we had 6 mats with the non-speakers sat on them ready to get up and do their dance. If all that is as clear as mud, I am happy to support you by email as after sales service! We performed this show for 2 years running and it worked really well. Good Luck and Happy Christmas xxx

If you are a maths or year leader and wish to get data on your pupil's attitude to maths, perhaps to see the impact of a new strategy such as Maths Mastery, then use this questionnaire at the start and end of the year. Easy to understand, circle the pictures as teacher reads the questions out loud.

I have taken one number per file and introduced it in as many ways as I could think - different views, where it is on a numberline etc. I uploaded the files from home and I was unable to review them first, so I apologise if they are a little 'scribbled on' but I used them myself for teaching... for this reason these are free of charge. If you would like more (I do have them) I will upload them after putting them in the washing machine first so they are nice, clean and polished for you. Please ask if you want them....