Peter Mattock has been teaching maths for over 15 years. He is a specialist leader of education (SLE) and an accredited secondary maths professional development lead, who regularly presents at conferences across the country. Peter also develops teaching for mastery in the secondary school classroom, having been part of the first cohort of specialists trained in mastery approaches by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM).
We all know that practice matters in maths. But what kind of practice helps pupils truly understand what they're doing, rather than just answering questions by rote? Building on the success of his previous books, Peter Mattock explores how we can move beyond the teaching of methods and strategies to carry out calculations - the kind of practice that often dominates the classroom - and establish something deeper. Because if all pupils ever learn is how to do maths, without learning about it, then we're not offering them a full mathematical education.This book focuses on the type of practice that encourages pupils to explain, justify, prove and make sense of mathematical ideas, rather than just learn how to use them. Drawing on twenty years of classroom experience, Peter equips teachers with the knowledge and confidence to design and choose tasks that are effective and foster a deep understanding of maths that we hope to develop in all learners. With clear explanations, practical activities that can be used for lesson planning, and key takeaways at the end of every chapter, Practising Maths supplies teachers with the tools and confidence to strengthen student learning at all levels.