Lol Conway, Curriculum Consultant and Trainer for the Design and Technology Association

Throughout my teaching, inclusivity has always been at the forefront of my mind – ensuring that all students can access learning, feel included, and thrive. Like many of my fellow teachers, at the start of my teaching career my focus was often directed towards supporting SEND or disadvantaged students, for example. I have come to realise, to my dismay, that more able students were not high up in my consideration. I thought about them, but often as an afterthought – wondering what I could add to challenge them. Of course, it should always be the case that all students are considered equally in the planning of lessons and curriculum progression and this should not be dictated by changes in school data or results. Inclusivity should be exactly that – for everyone.

True inclusivity for more able students isn’t about simply adding extra elements or extensions to lessons, much in the same way that inclusivity for students with learning difficulties isn’t about simplifying concepts. Instead, it’s about structuring lessons from the outset in a way that ensures all students can access learning at an appropriate level. 

I realised that my approach to lesson planning needed to change to ensure I set high expectations and included objectives that promoted deep thinking. This ensured that more able students were consistently challenged whilst still providing structures that supported all learners. It is imperative that teachers have the confidence and courage to relentlessly challenge at the top end and are supported with this by their schools. 

As a Design and Technology (D&T) teacher, I am fortunate that our subject naturally fosters higher-order thinking, with analysis and evaluation deeply embedded in the design process. More able students can benefit from opportunities to tackle complex, real-world problems, encouraging problem-solving and interdisciplinary connections. By integrating these elements into lessons, we can create an environment where every student, including the most able, is stretched and engaged. However, more often than not, these kinds of skills are not always nurtured at KS3.

Maximizing the KS3 curriculum

The KS3 curriculum is often overshadowed by the annual pressures of NEA and examinations at GCSE and A-Level, often resulting in the inability to review KS3 delivery due to the lack of time. However, KS3 holds immense potential. A well-structured KS3 curriculum can inspire and motivate students to pursue D&T while also equipping them with vital skills such as empathy, critical thinking, innovation, creativity, and intellectual curiosity.

To enhance the KS3 delivery of D&T, the Design and Technology Association has developed the Inspired by Industry resource collection – industry-led contexts which provide students with meaningful learning experiences that go beyond theoretical knowledge. We are making these free to all schools this year, to help teachers deliver enhanced learning experiences that will equip students with the skills needed for success in design and technology careers. 

By connecting classroom projects to real-world industries, students gain insight into the practical applications of their learning, fostering a sense of purpose and motivation. The focus shifts from achieving a set outcome to exploring the design process and industry relevance. This has the potential to ‘lift the lid’ on learning, helping more able learners to develop higher-order skills and self-directed enquiry.

These contexts offer a diverse range of themes, allowing students to apply their knowledge and skills in real-world scenarios while developing a deeper understanding of the subject and industry processes. Examples include:

• Creating solutions that address community issues such as poverty, education, or homelessness using design thinking principles to drive positive change;
• Developing user-friendly, inclusive and accessible designs for public spaces, products, or digital interfaces that accommodate people with disabilities;
• Designing eco-friendly packaging solutions that consider materials, manufacturing processes, and end-of-life disposal.

These industry-led contexts foster independent discovery and limitless learning opportunities, particularly benefiting more able students. By embedding real-world challenges into the curriculum, we can push the boundaries of what students can achieve, ensuring they are not just included but fully engaged and empowered in their learning journey.

Find out more…

NACE is partnering with the Design & Technology Association on a free live webinar on Wednesday 4 June 2025, exploring approaches to challenge all learners in KS3 Design & Technology. Register here.

Dr Ems Lord, Director of the University of Cambridge’s NRICH initiative, shares three activities to try in your classroom, to help learners improve their use of mathematical vocabulary.

Like many academic subjects, mathematics has developed its own language. Sometimes this can lead to humorous clashes when mathematicians meet the real world. After all, when we’re calculating the “mean”, we’re not usually referring to a measurement of perceived nastiness (unless it’s the person who devised the problem we’re trying to solve!). 

Precision in our use of language within mathematics does matter, even among school-aged learners. In my experience, issues frequently arise in geometry sessions when working with pyramids and prisms, squares and rectangles, and cones and cylinders. You probably have your own examples too, both within geometry and the wider curriculum. 

In this blog post, I’ll explore three tried-and-tested ways to improve the use of mathematical vocabulary in the classroom.

1. Introduce your class to Whisper Maths

“Prisms are for naughty people, and pyramids are for dead people.” Even though I’ve heard that playground “definition” of prisms and pyramids many times before, it never fails to make me smile. It’s clear that the meanings of both terms cause considerable confusion in KS2 and KS3 classrooms. Don’t forget, learners often encounter both prisms and pyramids at around the same time in their schooling, and the two words do look very similar. 

One useful strategy I’ve found is using an approach I like to refer to as Whisper Maths; it’s an approach which allows individuals time to think about a problem before discussing it in pairs, and then with the wider group. For Whisper Maths sessions focusing on definitions, I tend to initially restrict learner access to resources, apart from a large sheet of shared paper on their desks; this allows them to sketch their ideas and their drawings can support their discussions with others. 

This approach helps me to better understand their current thinking about “prismness” and “pyramidness” before moving on to address any misconceptions. Often, I’ve found that learners tend to base their arguments on their knowledge of square-based pyramids which they’ve encountered elsewhere in history lessons and on TV. A visit to a well-stocked 3D shapes cupboard will enable them to explore a wider range of examples of pyramids and support them to refine their initial definition. 

I do enjoy it when they become more curious about pyramids, and begin to wonder how many sides a pyramid might have, because this conversation can then segue nicely into the wonderful world of cones! 

2. Explore some family trees 

Let’s move on to think about the “Is a square a rectangle?” debate. I’ve come across this question many times, and similarly worded ones too. 

As someone who comes from a family which talks about “oblongs”, I only came across the “Is a square a rectangle?” debate when I became a teacher trainer. For me, using the term oblong meant that my understanding of what it means to be a square or an oblong was clear; at primary school I thought about oblongs as “stretched” squares. This early understanding made it fairly easy for me to see both squares and oblongs (or non-squares!) as both falling within the wider family of rectangles. Clearly this is not the case for everyone, so having a strategy to handle the confusion can be helpful. 

Although getting out the 2D shape box can help here, I prefer to sketch the “family tree” of rectangles, squares and oblongs. As with all family trees, it can lead to some interesting questions when learners begin to populate it with other members of the family, such the relationship between rectangles and parallelograms.

3. Challenge the dictionary!

When my classes have arrived at a definition, it’s time to pull out the dictionaries and play “Class V dictionary”. To win points, class members need to match their key vocabulary to the wording in the dictionary. For the “squares and rectangles” debate, I might ask them to complete the sentence “A rectangle has...”. Suppose they write “four sides and four right angles”, we would remove any non-mathematical words, so it now reads “four sides, four right angles.” Then we compare their definition with the mathematics dictionary.

They win 10 points for each identical word or phrase, so “four right angles, four sides” would earn them 20 points. It’s great fun, and well worth trying out if you feel your classes might be using their mathematical language a little less imprecisely than you would like.

More free maths activities and resources from NRICH…

A collaborative initiative run by the Faculties of Mathematics and Education at the University of Cambridge, NRICH provides thousands of free online mathematics resources for ages 3 to 18, covering early years, primary, secondary and post-16 education – completely free and available to all. 

The NRICH team regularly challenges learners to submit solutions to “live” problems, choosing a selection of submissions for publication. Get started with the current live problems for primary students, live problems for secondary students, and live problems for post-16 students.

Gavin Illsley, Head of Programmes, English-Speaking Union

Spelling or poetry, complicated maths, explosive chemistry, or predicting the Bank of England’s interest rates. In so many aspects of school life, competitions can be part of a vibrant culture of learning. The English-Speaking Union (ESU) believes that oracy should be at the heart of every classroom, and oracy competitions can help bring it to the heart of every school. Read on to find out more about the ESU’s approach to competitions, and how to register your school for participation in future contests. 

1. Competitions provide focus for year-wide activities

While the end result may be a team of three or five students going to a competition, the process is an opportunity to bring oracy to much larger groups. Many of our participating schools use competition season as a time to get everyone involved in oracy activities – the entire school could enter the first round of our Performing Shakespeare competition, while teachers often use our ESU-Churchill Public Speaking Competition as a chance to get everyone giving speeches in class. You can even run your own internal qualifier events.

The successful teams and individuals can be role models and exemplars – there’s no better assembly highlight than a winning team showing off their newly polished oracy skills!

2. Competitions give different ways of engaging with skills

Oracy activities can be intimidating for some students, but very often taking a slightly different approach can make a student feel more comfortable and confident. Wrapping presentation and speech within part of a dramatic performance is helpful for some, while others find their feet in the controlled role of a public speaking chairperson. Finding the right way for an individual to express themselves can unlock achievement in other areas. 

3. Competitions provide challenge 

All students deserve access to oracy education but, for those who are particularly keen or engaged, classroom opportunities might not be enough. Public speaking competitions give students a place to stretch themselves and take on bigger challenges. Tackling peers at local, regional and even national levels means there’s always more to reach for.

This can also provide a useful outlet for the students, who may otherwise behave in a disruptive way as they try to maximise speaking time in class at others’ expense.

4. Competition can be a motivator

Some people hate running laps of a track, but give them a ball and an opposition and they’ll run all day. Similarly, with oracy, competition can be a great source of motivation. 

All steps – preparations, practice, performance – can be given a boost by the chance to compete, progress and win acclaim. As Simon Porter, headteacher at De Aston School in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, says: “The students really enjoy the competitions. They get to have their voice heard on important topics and it’s been transformative for their confidence and their self-esteem.” 

5. Competitions are social and interactive

Public speaking competitions are all about interacting with other students both within a class or year group and from a broad range of other schools, right across the country. Debaters will go head-to-head with opponents, and public speaking teams will host and welcome speakers from other schools as part of the contest. 

This benefits students as learners, as they can observe how others approach similar tasks, share ideas, and use their words and actions to motivate and inspire. It also benefits students from a social and emotional development perspective. Engaging outside of the competition itself is a chance (for teachers too!) to meet others with similar passions, share and chat. This is something that teachers often comment on, pointing out that students typically have very little opportunity to talk to other children their age whom they don’t already know. “It’s nice that they are experiencing, very clearly, schools that are from a very different background, seeing the differences, and also knowing that there isn’t as much of a difference as they previously thought,” says Grace Aldridge, teacher, Kensington Aldridge Academy.

Sign up!

Sign up now for the English-Speaking Union’s national competitions: Performing Shakespeare (Y7-9), the ESU-Churchill Public Speaking Competition (Y9-11) and the Schools’ Mace debating competition (Y7-13). All have trained judges and offer extensive feedback opportunities. More details and the registration form can be found here and supporting resources to help train and develop your students can be accessed here.  

About the English-Speaking Union

The English-Speaking Union is an educational charity working to ensure young people have the speaking and listening skills and cultural understanding they need to thrive. Our debate, public speaking and cultural exchange programmes help young people to engage with the world, to speak more confidently and to listen to and understand different points of view. These skills improve young people’s attainment, emotional intelligence and social skills, helping them to live their lives to the fullest. To find out more, visit esu.org

Upcoming opportunities:

• Webinar: Building your secondary school oracy culture with the ESU - Wednesday 15 September at 4pm
• Webinar: Boosting student oracy skills with the ESU’s secondary school competitions - Thursday 23 September at 4pm
• ESU secondary school competitions for 2021-22 - register by 1 October 
  

More from the English-Speaking Union:

• Blog post: 5 reasons to teach oracy skills in your classroom
• Blog post: 5 oracy activities to stretch all learners, in every lesson
• Webinar (member login required): Oracy-based challenges to stretch and support more able learners
  

NACE is proud to NACE is proud to partner with Cambridge University’s NRICH initiative, which is dedicated to creating free maths resources and activities to promote enriching, challenging maths experiences for all. In this blog post, NRICH Director Dr Ems Lord shares details of the latest free maths resources from the team, and an exclusive opportunity for NACE members…

In this blog post, I’m delighted to introduce NRICH’s new child-friendly reflection tool for nurturing successful mathematicians – part of our suite of free maths resources and activities to promote enriching, challenging mathematical experiences for all. We very much hope that you enjoy exploring it with your classes to support them to realise their potential. Such innovations are developed in partnerships with schools and teachers, and we’ll also be inviting you to work directly with our team to help design a future classroom resource intended to challenge able mathematicians (see below or click here for details of our upcoming online event for NACE members).

At NRICH, we believe that learning mathematics is about much more than simply learning topics and routines. Successful mathematicians understand the curriculum content and are fluent in mathematical skills and procedures, but they can also solve unfamiliar problems, explain their thinking and have a positive attitude about themselves as learners of mathematics. Inspired by the 'rope model' proposed by Kilpatrick et al. (2001), which draws attention to the importance of a balanced curriculum developing all five strands of mathematical proficiency equally rather than promoting some strands at the expense of others, we have developed this new model and image which uses child-friendly language so that teachers and parents can share with learners five key ingredients that characterise successful mathematicians: 

• Understanding: Maths is a network of linked ideas. I can connect new mathematical thinking to what I already know and understand.
• Tools: I have a toolkit that I can choose tools from to help me solve problems. Practising using these tools helps me become a better mathematician.
• Problem solving: Problem solving is an important part of maths. I can use my understanding, skills and reasoning to help me work towards solutions.
• Reasoning: Maths is logical. I can convince myself that my thinking is correct and I can explain my reasoning to others.
• Attitude: Maths makes sense and is worth spending time on. I can enjoy maths and become better at it by persevering.

Using the tool during remote learning and beyond

This reflection tool helps learners to recognise where their mathematical strengths and weaknesses lie. Each of the maths activities in our accompanying primary and secondary features is designed to offer learners opportunities to develop their mathematical capabilities in multiple strands. We hope learners will have a go at some of the activities and then take time to reflect on their own mathematical capabilities, so that when full-time schooling returns for all they are ready to share their excitement about what they have achieved, and are eager to continue on their mathematical journeys.

At NRICH, we believe that following the current period of remote learning, success in settling back into schools will be aided by recognising and acknowledging the mathematical learning that has been achieved at home, and encouraging learners to reflect on how they see themselves as mathematicians. It may be that some learners will not recognise the value of what they have achieved while they have been out of the classroom, because what they have been doing at home may be quite different from what they usually do in school. We want learners to appreciate that there are many ways to demonstrate their mathematical capabilities, and to recognise the ways in which they behave mathematically. By inviting children and students to assess their mathematical progress on a broad range of measures, we hope to change the narrative to recognise what learners have achieved, rather than focusing on what they have missed. 

Get involved….

As the current period of remote learning continues, we’re continuing to develop new free maths resources, and we always value input from teachers. On 3 February 2021, the NRICH team is hosting an online meetup for NACE members during which we’ll share an exciting new classroom resource, currently under development, intended to challenge able mathematicians. The session will involve an opportunity to explore this new resource and share your insights to help inform its future development. We look forward to working with you. Details and booking.

Very best wishes for 2021 – the NRICH team.

Ref: Kilpatrick, J., Swafford, J. and Findell, F. (eds) (2001) Adding It Up: Helping Children Learn Mathematics. Mathematics Learning Study Committee: National Research Council.

Organisations across the world have responded to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic by sharing free resources to help support schools, students and families. We’ve rounded up a selection of free resources available from our partner organisations – focusing on challenge alongside enjoyment, enrichment and wellbeing.

Oxplore – “Home of Big Questions”

A digital outreach portal developed by the University of Oxford, Oxplore aims to raise aspirations and stimulate intellectual curiosity amongst 11- to 18-year olds. The “Home of Big Questions”, it tackles complex ideas across a wide range of subjects, drawing on the latest Oxford research and promoting interdisciplinary enquiry.

Get started:

• Watch this short video for an overview of the platform and how it can be used.
• Download this free activity sheet designed to help students and families get started.
• Read this blog post for more ideas, including additional resources to print and use at home.
• Follow Oxplore on Wordpress and Twitter for new Big Questions, live online events and more.

NRICH – “low threshold, high ceiling” maths activities

Based at the University of Cambridge, NRICH provides free “low threshold, high ceiling” maths resources for learners aged 3-19, designed to enrich mathematics teaching and learning through challenging, engaging and meaningful activities.

Get started:

• Watch this short video for an introduction to NRICH’s “low threshold, high ceiling” approach.
• Visit NRICH’s maths at home webpage for a selection of maths activities to try at home.
• Take a look at this overview, article and video for accompanying tips and guidance on using the activities.

Shakespeare’s Globe – free online screenings and resources

The iconic Shakespeare's Globe theatre offers resources and services to support teaching and learning with Shakespeare for all ages. During the current period, the Globe is opening up access to its catalogue of past production recordings through fortnightly releases on YouTube, including introductory talks from the Globe's Head of Higher Education and Research, Professor Farah Karim-Cooper. This year's 90-minute Playing Shakespeare production of Macbeth will be available from 11 May until schools reopen. Schools can also request free access to all Globe Player films, as well as many other educational videos, by contacting Bloomsbury. 

Get started:

• Take a virtual tour of the Globe theatre.
• Explore the Teach Shakespeare website – hundreds of free resources including worksheets, activities, revision guides and more.
• Explore individual plays in more depth with the Playing Shakespeare microsites for Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, Othello, The Merchant of Venice and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The Day – daily articles and activities based on current affairs

The Day turns the daily news into lessons designed to get students thinking for themselves and engaging with the world. In response to current demand, it has launched a free daily newsletter for parents and carers supporting students at home. It is also offering free access to articles relating to different aspects of the pandemic, with links across the curriculum – with an added focus on activities to complete at home, both online and away from the screen.

Get started:

• Sign up for The Day Home – free daily newsletter to support home learning.
• Browse the latest daily articles and activities to spark debate and enquiry.
• Check out The Day Explorer – aimed at younger learners.

Plus…

Many more organisations are offering free resources to support and engage students across all ages, abilities and areas of interest. For additional ideas and inspiration, take a look at:

• BBC Bitesize: daily lessons for home schooling in maths, English and more
  
• Chartered College: compact guides for schools during COVID-19
• Department for Education: list of online education resources
• Department for Education: overview of coronavirus (COVID-19) guidance for schools
• Department for Education: guidance on remote education during coronavirus (COVID-19)
• Department for Education: case studies of remote education practice during coronavirus (COVID-19)
• EdTech Demonstrator Schools and Colleges Programme
• Education Endowment Foundation: resources to support home learning
• EEF: COVID-19 support guide for schools (June 2020)
• EEF report: Impact of school closures on the attainment gap (June 2020)
• EEF report: Remote learning: rapid evidence assessment (April 2020)
• Fair Education Alliance: list of free initiatives for young people, parents and educators
• Oak National Academy: online lessons from reception to Year 10
• School Libraries Association: support for out-of-school learning (book-related resources)
• School Libraries Association: support for out-of-school learning (other resources)
  
• Seren: distance learning resources to support Year 12 and 13 students in Wales

Share your own…

What resources, websites or approaches have you found useful in supporting more able learners remotely? Share your recommendations in our online forums.