What is a Work Group ?

Work Groups are led by a teacher, or former teacher, who has expertise in maths education and leading professional development – also known as an LLME (local leader of maths education). 

Work Group participants meet regularly during the year to collaborate with peers from other local schools, to share ideas and develop their own practice. The learning doesn’t stop here – unlike after a regular ‘course’, participants try things out in their own classrooms, working with colleagues to establish approaches across their department or school, then meet back in the Work Group to share experiences and discuss next steps.

Each Work Group is normally part of a Network Collaborative Project (NCP) which supports the Work Group Lead and aims to ensure that projects across the country can benefit from any lessons learnt. In some teaching for mastery projects, the Work Group may be referred to as a Teacher Research Group (TRG), but the essential characteristics are exactly the same.

• is formed of local schools, with one or two lead participant teachers from each school

• is led by a teacher or former teacher with experience in maths education and leading professional development (also known as an LLME)

• meets several times over the course of a school year

• is part of a national project

• work towards outcomes linked to professional learning, practice development, and impact on the pupils they teach

• keep in touch with each other between sessions, comparing notes about what they’re trying out in their own schools

• develop new approaches to maths teaching across their school or department

• maintain a focus on the classroom, often planning, observing and refining lessons together

• evaluate the outcomes of the Work Group’s activity, with collated findings being fed into the national picture and used to inform future work