Secondary Teaching for Mastery Work Group:

Collaborative Work Group between Maths and Science Departments

NB: Only schools that have embarked on the Teaching for Mastery journey are eligible for this Work Group

Being part of this Work Group will provide opportunities for teachers across Secondary Maths and Science to work collaboratively to improve the coherence and learning outcomes for pupils.

Aim of the Work Group

Maths is taught across many different subjects in a secondary school, not least in the Science department. For this Work Group, two teachers from each school (one from the Maths Dept and one from the Science Dept) will work together to establish similarities and differences in teaching approaches to help develop a cohesive experience for pupils.

We will look at how language, context, structures and representations may be used between Science and Maths departments to help student understanding. Sessions will include a practical experiment to see how maths can be used to support science and vice versa. Although the sequencing of the topics is also an important part of the collaborative process, this Work Group will focus more on how we teach these topics rather than when.

Who can join?

This opportunity is for schools that have previously participated in a Secondary Teaching for Mastery Work Group (eg. Developing) or have a trained Mastery Specialist in their department. If you’d like to check your school’s eligibility, please contact rebecca.conroy@matrixmathshub.co.uk.

A pair of teachers from each school will join the Work Group; one from the Maths department and one from the Science department. The pair will ideally comprise of at least one Mastery Specialist or Mastery Advocate. The teachers should have experience of curriculum delivery across KS3 and KS4.

What are the benefits?

Teachers will:

• Develop a greater awareness of the mathematical demands placed on students in science lessons.
• Frame mathematical content in unfamiliar, real–life contexts appropriate to student learning in other curriculum areas.

Pupils will

• Have a coherent and consistent mathematical learning journey in both maths and science lessons.

Schools will

• Benefit from departments collaborating about teaching approaches.

What is the cost?

The Secondary Teaching for Mastery project is fully funded by the Maths Hubs Programme so is free to participating schools.

How and when will we meet?

For 2025-26, the Work Group will meet for the equivalent of 3 days across the year; some of this might be online and some in-person (TBC).

To express an interest in taking part in the ‘Developing coherence across Maths and Science Departments’ Work Group in 2025-26, please complete the form below: