Building Bridges in Maths at Nottingham College: Ilona Sobiecka-Kocik, Campus Manager – Maths and FE Maths Mastery Specialist
In this edition of Voices from the Sector – Further Education, we hear from the maths team at Nottingham College’s Basford campus, who have been reflecting deeply on how learners experience maths — particularly at the point of transition to college. Through a growing focus on representations and inclusive classroom practices, the team has been working to make maths feel clearer, calmer and more accessible for students who often arrive with maths anxiety.
Their work speaks strongly to MEI’s values around inclusion, equity and understanding learners’ journeys. By looking beyond attainment data to consider the academic, emotional and social barriers students bring with them, the team highlights how small, thoughtful adjustments in teaching can make a meaningful difference. This blog offers an honest insight into practice in the Further Education sector, showing how inclusive approaches can move from theory into everyday classrooms — and how transition can become not an end point, but a moment of renewed possibility.
Building Bridges in Maths
Over the past two years, Nottingham College’s Basford Maths team has been reshaping the way learners experience maths. They have achieved this by having a strong focus on representations by using visual models, colour-coded scaffolds and carefully sequenced steps to make mathematical ideas clearer and more accessible.
For many learners, particularly those arriving with feelings of anxiety, processing difficulties or a history of struggling with maths, these approaches have transformed their experience: “for the first time, maths felt understandable, manageable, and genuinely supportive.” This year, the team has expanded this work through a new cross-phase programme through their Maths Hub, aimed at understanding what the transition from school to college really feels like and improving it. As Ilona puts it, the focus is on helping students see this moment “not as a full stop, but as a comma: a pause, a second chance, and an opportunity to rewrite their story.”
Staff involved in the project have explored FE student profiles, considering the academic, emotional and social barriers learners bring with them and are now developing student case studies to track changes in confidence, participation and progress. Teachers describe the project as “an eye opener”, helping them see the bigger picture of learners’ journeys and the ‘why’ behind classroom behaviours. The team also highlights practical changes that have strengthened inclusion: “small adjustments (breaking things down, using clear visuals, adapting communication) make a huge difference to learner confidence and progress.” Even at this early stage, Ilona reports that “lessons are becoming more accessible” and that conversations about inclusion are shifting from theory to everyday practice. For the team, this work captures what FE is all about: “giving students the belief, the tools and the support to move forward: one small step, one representation, one conversation at a time.”
giving students the belief, the tools and the support to move forward: one small step, one representation, one conversation at a time.
Ilona Sobiecka-Kocik