Chinese teachers give maths lessons in Preston

Photo Neil Cross
Teachers Kuang Ying Ying and Xu Kairui at Holme Slack Community Primary School, from Shanghai, as part of an international mathematics exchange programme — Photo Neil Cross Teachers Kuang Ying Ying and Xu Kairui at Holme Slack Community Primary School, from Shanghai, as part of an international mathematics exchange programme

Holme Slack Community Primary has been playing host to two teachers from schools in Shanghai, China.

Karry and Ivy have been working and teaching alongside Simon Rusling, deputy headteacher at the Manor House Lane school, who went on a research visit to Shanghai last year.

The exchange is part of a long-term project, run within the Maths Hubs Programme, to help teachers in English schools introduce mastery approaches to teaching maths in their schools.

During the visitors’ two-week stay, more than 400 teachers from across Lancashire and Cumbria descended on the Deepdale school to meet the Chinese duo and learn about their acclaimed teaching methods.

Workshops were held and teachers also had a chance to see the pair in action in the

classroom.

It is the third year the Preston school, a National Centre of Excellence in the teaching of maths, has been involved in the

programme.

Mr Rusling, who trained as a maths specialist, runs workshops and training groups for eight other Preston schools as well. Last year he visited Shanghai to see the Chinese methods put into practise in the classroom.

He said: “We have been using some of the practices in our school for two years now and we are doing great at maths at Holme Slack, particularly with children at the lower end of the ability range.”

This is the fifth such exchange run as part of the national Maths Hubs Programme, funded by the DfE, and co-ordinated by the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM).