Tom Pole's department at Plantsbrook School, Birmingham, has gone back to first principles, redesigning KS3 learning around the new curriculum and incorporating APP throughout. Two lessons on angles are featured, delivering APP evidence on 'Using and Applying'. In the first Year 8 lesson, students are encouraged to show off the maths they know and experiment with the facts. The task has a number of paths and any number of answers. We eavesdrop as students work independently in groups. Tom fills in his personally-designed assessment diagram, the result of his formative observations during the hour. The second lesson sees the students recording angle facts, celebrating what they know and assessing one another's work. Tom comments on how peer assessment helps with the manageability of evidence collection. We also see Stuart McAusland's Year 7 class peer-assessing homework about sequences. APP is periodic, ongoing throughout the year and can really help make maths more fun and relevant.

Video Series: KS3 APP
Release Date 2009