New NPQs - NPQ in Leading Primary Mathematics and NPQ for SENCOs

NPQ in Leading Primary Mathematics

This course is for:

• teachers and leaders with responsibility for leading maths across a primary key-stage or school, or those who want to have this responsibility
• teachers familiar with mastery approaches to teaching primary maths, who want to improve leadership skills in this area
• subject leaders in a school already engaged in the primary Teaching for Mastery programme or similar programme 

This course will help you to:

• embed mastery approaches to teaching maths in your school
• lead your school to teach maths effectively, working collaboratively with senior leaders and teachers

Course content

Develop a school culture with a positive attitude to maths

You’ll learn about how pupils learn, so you can develop systems which help children:

• overcome maths anxiety
• build resilience
• develop problem-solving strategies

You’ll learn how to create a culture of high expectations where teachers:

• challenge and motivate pupils
• give pupils high quality feedback

Design and introduce maths curriculums

You’ll learn how to design maths curriculums and develop leadership skills to help you introduce them, including how to:

• identify the maths knowledge that pupils need
• help pupils make connections between maths facts and concepts
• identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge and make changes accordingly
• plan curriculum changes so that teachers are supported

Support maths teachers in your school

You’ll learn techniques to help you support maths teachers, including techniques to help them:

• plan lessons, for example sequencing lessons so that pupils can build their knowledge
• support inclusion of pupils, for example ensuring that the starting point is accessible to all
• manage their workload, for example by sharing approaches to marking work
• understand and use consistent maths vocabulary

The Leading primary mathematics NPQ framework can be found here

Additional information can be found: Leading Primary Mathematics NPQ (education.gov.uk) 

Information about funding for NPQLPM can be found by clicking here. 

NPQ for SENCOs

Mandatory for some; appropriate for all.

Special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) lead and co-ordinate a school’s provision for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.

Teaching of the NPQ for SENCOs will begin in Autumn 2024. The three-year window to complete the mandatory qualification upon taking up a SENCO post will remain following the introduction of the NPQ for SENCOs.

This course is for:

• special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs)
• teachers interested in developing expertise in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or undertaking a SENCO role in future
• school leaders

This course will enable you to:

• co-ordinate special educational needs (SEN) provision throughout your school
• work alongside other leaders to build a school culture in which pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can participate meaningfully in the full life of the school, achieve ambitious outcomes and make successful transitions to their next steps

Course content and structure

The course includes 8 topics:

• school culture
• statutory framework
• identification of need
• teaching
• behaviour
• leading and managing provision
• professional development
• implementation

The introduction of the new NPQ for SENCOs will play a key role in improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND by ensuring SENCOs consistently receive high-quality, evidence-based training. This is crucial given the central role SENCOs play in supporting pupils with SEND.

The ‘transition to national professional qualification’ document has more information about this new qualification and the requirements that SENCOs must meet. Updates on the transition can be read here.

The Special educational needs co-ordinators (SENCOs) NPQ framework can be found here