The Primary Strategic Goal sets out an ambition for 75% of primary schools to have engaged with teaching for mastery programmes by 2025 in order to improve outcomes for all pupils. For this goal to be met, Primary Mastery Specialists are key agents, as they will be involved in leading Mastery Readiness, Development, Embedding or Sustaining Work Groups.

Maths Hubs recruit teachers from their area, in line with centrally developed criteria, to become Primary Mastery Specialists who have the capacity to lead change in their own schools, and who have the skills and capacity to develop as leaders of professional development in other schools and to lead these Work Groups effectively.

In this first year of the programme, three 2-day residentials – one in each term – provide an opportunity for the specialists to develop their understanding the Five Big Ideas of teaching for mastery in depth, and to focus on the specialist subject knowledge required to design lessons that unfold the maths for all children.

Between residentials, as a classroom teacher, specialists will be able to apply their learning to the context of their own classroom and school, reflecting with others what the impact of their learning has been on pupils.

This subject expertise, and how to bring about a change in others, will then be drawn upon in the second year and subsequent years of the programme as specialists lead Work Groups. This should be seen as a long-term commitment to work for their local Maths Hub.



The commitment from their headteacher to support them to carry out this role is therefore essential.

Primary Mastery Specialists must be employed as a teacher in a primary/infant/junior/middle school, and regularly teaching maths to the same class of children at least three days a week. They must have good teaching skills in maths as evidenced by internal/external observation, and have a passion and enthusiasm for teaching for mastery. Ideally, they will have a successful track record of working effectively with others.

In this first year, 15 days will need to be set aside. This will include attendance at all three residentials and completion of school-based tasks set between them including leading a trial TRG. The Primary Curriculum Prioritisation Materials will be drawn upon during these residentials, as these link to the Primary Mastery Professional Development Materials and the 2020 DfE primary mathematics guidance.

Participants will be expected to engage with others in their cohort through an online community, to reflect not only on their own practice but on how they are developing as leaders of professional development.



In the second and subsequent years of the programme, they will become a Work Group Lead who supports other schools as allocated by their local Maths Hub. If they are not accredited as a PD Lead, they will also be expected to engage in this programme in the second year.