ABOUT
England has made significant progress in maths education and Maths Horizons believes the sector can build on this to become truly world leading.
Introduction to our work
We bring together research, system expertise and classroom practice to build evidence not only about what should change, but about what is workable, needed and useful in practice.
Dr Helen Drury introduces Maths Horizons’ work.
Our Framework
The Maths Horizons Framework provides a description of problem solving that informs changes needed to embed rigorous problem solving and reasoning into classroom practice.
The Framework highlights characteristics of questions that give pupils opportunities to develop strategies and habits of problem solving: identifying structure, working systematically, and explaining and justifying. It describes how problem solving can be accessible and rigorous for all pupils and support them to develop connected understanding of mathematical ideas. It emphasises the need to purposefully use authentic, stylised and abstract question contexts.
Our priorities
We’re focused on four priorities that we think should be central to maths teaching. We see the new national curriculum as an opportunity to fully embed these into classroom practice.
We think that our Framework, combined with the following classroom practice priorities, will help to ensure that all pupils can access rigorous problem solving.
Teach mathematical thinking explicitly
Professor Camilla Gilmore explains the three characteristics of questions and how focusing on them allows pupils to develop successful problem-solving strategies and habits.
Make mathematical thinking accessible to all
Dr Ed Southall talks about ways to make maths questions accessible by reducing unnecessary barriers without reducing mathematical demand.
Build connected mathematical knowledge
Professor Camilla Gilmore discusses why making connections among mathematical ideas is important and the problem-solving experiences pupils need to achieve this.
Use contexts purposefully
Dr Ed Southall explains authentic, stylised and abstract questions and how they can be used deliberately and effectively.
Assessment must reinforce, not undermine, these ambitions.
If the curriculum expects more mathematical thinking, SATs and GCSEs need to reward it across the attainment range, not only in the hardest questions.
We are exemplifying our framework by producing a set of classroom resources aligned to the national curriculum.