Mathematics - Multi-level grouping

This year there is no streamed maths at school. We have all our students in our class. This means I have a range of beginning level 2, to end of level 4/beginning level 5. I have been thinking how best to cater for all the needs in my class. I want to encourage those lower level learners to accelerate their learning, whilst still pushing those more able mathematics. This lead me to re-trying multi-level grouping, which I have done before in a year 3 class with what I believe was success.

When thinking about the grouping in my class I wanted to ensure that each group had students that would work together effectively, I also had to think about catering to each students ability. I didn't want the "top" students to become the teacher and get bored by holding back the rest of the group.

So far the groups seem to be working well. Students are enjoying the challenge of being grouped. Because Im using mixing ability I make sure the students are being challenged at the appropriate level. I do this by using Education Perfect, and also setting tasks that are levelled. The students that are more capable work through the tasks faster as the first lot are usually easier for them.

The next step I am going to working on in my maths class will be to work on running workshops. Students will need to attend certain workshops unless they can prove they know the concepts. I am still not 100% sure what this will look like, but have been doing some reading and some thinking about how I can do effectively to benefit the students in my class.