Waterloo Primary School is situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, near Liverpool. The percentage of pupils with special educational needs or disabilities, with English as an additional language and/or eligible for the British Pupil Premium grant targeted at low income families is very high.
The school joined the LJMU Lesson Study project in January 2018.
The Lesson Study group identified from data that confidence and resilience in reasoning and problem solving in mathematics was an aspect for improvement in a Year 1 class.
Following an analysis of relevant research on building resilience and confidence in mathematics including 'Ability and Mathematics: the mindset revolution that is reshaping education.' by Jo Boaler and 'Setting or Streaming' within the EEF Toolkit, the LS group decided to focus on changing the organisation of within class groupings to mixed attainment. The LS group were particularly concerned about the progress of the lower attaining children and they reflected on the finding from the EEF study that - 'Within-class attainment grouping may also have an impact on wider outcomes such as confidence. Some studies from the broader evidence base conclude that grouping pupils on the basis of attainment may have longer term negative effects on the attitudes and engagement of low attaining pupils, for example, by discouraging the belief that their attainment can be improved through effort.'
Watch the short video below to find out more about the learning from this Lesson Study.