## **Collaborative Lesson Research (CLR)** Registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation Charity Number 1183454 **REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES FOR THE PERIOD ENDING AUGUST 2025** The Trustees present their report with the financial statements of the charity for the period starting 1[st ] September 2024 and ending 31 August 2025. ## **I. Objectives and Activities** Our mission is for every teacher to have an entitlement to high quality professional development through lesson study. We aim to achieve this by advocating for such entitlement, providing professional learning opportunities and resources, and working with education partners to help make lesson study widely available. We support school leaders and teachers to implement, improve and sustain lesson study to re-professionalise teaching and improve learning. CLR-UK also provides a bridge between academic research and classroom-based practice. By working with partners at all levels of the system, CLR-UK aims to impact curriculum design and policy in a cyclical way through the expansion of lesson study. We have continued to work closely with other international networks and colleagues that have similar aspirations and aims. This includes colleagues across Europe especially those from Denmark and the Netherlands and the CLR group led by Dr. Akihiko Takahashi in Chicago and colleagues working as IMPULS at Tokyo Gakugei University. In shaping the objectives and planning our activities, the Trustees have considered the Charity Commission’s guidance on public benefit. Events that took place in this period included: 1. October 2024 Meeting of international visitors related to lesson study and collaborative lesson research. Prior to the event that drew on the expertise of our Tsukuba University attached Elementary School we met with international visitors from Denmark and Ireland as well as from Scotland to discuss future possible collaborations and the potential for study visits to Japan. This was a productive meeting and led to future events (see future reporting). 2. October 2024 Tsukuba Teachers visit, workshop and lesson study As in previous years we held a second event to showcase Japanese Lesson Study conducted by Japanese teachers who we organised to visit us in the UK. The visitors came to the event having participated in a similar few days in Copenhagen, Denmark. This event followed a successful event that we held in the previous year, in October 2023. Following a similar event as that held in October last year, we worked with Tsukuba University attached Elementary School to promote Japanese style lesson study, especially in schools with mixed age classes in rural locations in the U.K.. The Tsukuba University attached Elementary School is one of the leading ‘model’ schools in Japan, well known for their innovative lesson design and their role in professional development of Japanese elementary school teachers, both of which are based on Japanese Lesson Study. Tsukuba teachers play a key role leading Japanese elementary schools in this practice through their open Research Lessons, and often assist other schools as advisors and commentators). They also are key players in informing textbook development in Japan The two-day event aimed to provide an opportunity for teachers and other educators to engage directly with expert Japanese teachers working with English pupils in a Japanese-style mathematics lesson and lesson study processes. This provided participants with the experience of Japanese Lesson Study in the U.K. The event took place at the Exeter Maths School on 12th October 2024, and at the Uplowman Primary School, Devon on 13th October 2024. The maths topic that was central to the event was shape and space and the development of geometry in the primary school years. The teachers provided a very informative workshop on the topic on the afternoon of the 12th October. This drew on their expert curriculum knowledge and insights into the textbooks that they work with. They covered the entire curriculum in the elementary school phase and provided much insight into the materials that are available for teachers and pupils to work with. This was followed by a lesson on the topic on the morning of the 13th October. This event attracted a substantial number of participants. A number of participants were repeat attendees having attended the events in previous years. The event included a pre-lesson briefing and post-lesson discussion in Uplowman Village Hall, which was used so as to be able to accommodate the numbers attending. This is the third time we have been able to host Japanese teachers in England, observing them teach, and it again allowed for close observation of both curriculum and pedagogical approaches to the teaching of mathematics. The event was supported by a small grant awarded to CLR by the Sasakawa (?) Foundation. 3. Follow up online event, 23rd October, 2024. We hosted a follow-up event at which participants in the North Devon workshop and lesson study events (see 2 above) were able to discuss their experience of, and learning from the workshop and lesson study. These were facilitated by Ruth Trundley and Geoff Wake (Trustees), and involved discussions arising from the event as well as issues more generally around the teaching of mathematics in Japan, including the use of Bansho and Japanese Problem Solving. 4. Online event: Learning from Lesson Study 4th December 2024, 11th December 2024. Collaborative Lesson Research (CLR) UK charity, working closely The Devon (DES) maths team and associates met together to explore the use of Japanese style lesson study as professional development. The event provided an opportunity for teachers and leaders to explore a collaborative lesson research cycle, based on a new video-recorded mixed-age research lesson in Y5/6 focussed on equivalent fractions. The video, its accompanying lesson proposal, the mathematical task for the lesson, and children’s solutions were available online for viewing and examination before the webinar. As well as commentary from UK educators, including Mike Askew (Trustee), Janine Blinko, Andy Tynemouth and Ruth Trundley, (Trustee, Treasurer) there were opportunities for comments and questions from participants. 5. Education Endowment Foundation project application (October 2024) and successful project set-up A major piece of work has been undertaken by CLR-UK that seeks to use lesson study to tackle issues related to pupils’ transitions between Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3. The project aims to address problems that pupils have in making a smooth transition from KS2 to KS3 in terms of their mathematics learning. This is manifested in a well-known slowing down in their progress during KS3 which results from pupils' experiences and attitudes towards mathematics learning in and across the key stages. The problem will be explored by bringing together teachers of pupils in their last term of Primary and first term of Secondary. These teachers will take part in collaborative lesson research (lesson study cycles) across the transition with pupils experiencing Japanese Problem Solving Lessons at the end of Year 6 and beginning of Year 7. The application was submitted in October 2024 and will involve a substantial period of set-up throughout 2025 and the programme is taking place from March 2026 to December 2026. The grant is for an Early Stage Development Programme. CLR-UK has been awarded £25,000 to facilitate the work they will do on the project. ## 6. CLR-UK Study visit to Japan, February 2025 Ruth Trundley (Trustee, Treasurer) led a study visit to Tokyo in February 2025 with six UK participants working alongside six participants from Denmark. This was assisted by our contacts at the IMPULS project at Tokyo Gakugei University and partially funded by CEML (Loughborough University) and the Daiwa Foundation. The project was focussed on providing access to lesson study in mathematics in Japan and included visiting a Kindergarten as well as observing ten lessons in classes from Grade 1 to Grade, in Tokyo and Yuzawa. Some of these lessons were part of open public lesson study events and others were everyday lessons. A number of blogs at https://www.collaborative-lesson-research.uk/blog have been written by attendees. See blogs 11, 12 and 13. ## 7. Sessions at regional and national conferences. Geoff Wake, as Chair of Trustees, made presentations about lessons from lesson study at a number of conferences in 2025: March 2025 to NAMA/AMET conference: Teachers’ conversations and behaviours in collaborative lesson research June 2025 Jurassic Maths Hubs Conference: Thinking Classrooms for Thinking Teachers July 2025 London Maths Hub Conference: Lesson Study: From the Global to the Local ## **II. Organisational development** During this period there has been little organisational development. This has been a period of consolidation and one of quiet growth in terms of connecting with other organisations, both in the U.K. and internationally, for example, we developed plans to work with colleagues in Dublin to facilitate their involvement with the Tsukuba group in October 2025. ## **III. Financial review (financial year ends 31[st ] August)** ## **Sept 1[st] 2024 - August 31[st] 2025** ## **Balance September 1[st] 2024 £8517.97** **Balance August 31[st ] 2025 £5720.64** **Income for the period September 1[st ] 2024 – August 31[st ] 2025** **Total £1447.80** ## **Expenditure for the period September 1[st ] 2024 – August 31[st ] 2025** **Total £4245.13** ## **IV. Structure, governance and management** Charitable Incorporated Organisation: Charity Registration Number 1183454 Governing document: constitution effective dated 16 May 2019 ## **Trustees:** Professor Geoffrey Wake, Chair Prof Mike Askew Dr Peter Dudley Laurie Jacques, Comms Sarah Leakey Sarah Seleznyov, Secretary Dr. Ruth Trundley, Treasurer **Approved by order of the board of trustees on 10 June 2026 and signed on its behalf by:** Trustee 1 Geoffrey Wake Trustee 2 Sarah Seleznyov 4