Improving maths across a large junior school without chasing quick fixes

At Michael Drayton Junior School in North Warwickshire, working with Origin Maths Hub has become a regular part of how the school develops maths teaching. Over nearly a decade, the school has taken part in teaching for mastery professional development, Work Groups and teacher development opportunities. What began with a single teacher's involvement has grown into a whole-school commitment to developing maths teaching and learning.

A large school serving a diverse community

Michael Drayton Junior School is a five-form entry junior school in Hartshill, near Nuneaton. With 598 pupils on roll, it is considerably larger than many primary schools and draws children from eight different infant and primary schools across the local area.

The school serves communities with varying levels of deprivation. Around a third of pupils are eligible for free school meals and receive pupil premium funding. Approximately a quarter of pupils come from Camp Hill, an area within the most deprived 5% nationally.

For headteacher Diane Compton-Belcher, the work has always been about understanding how to meet the needs of pupils arriving from a wide range of backgrounds and prior experiences. When pupils arrive in Year 3, around 50–60% are meeting the expected standard for their age in maths. Number, basic calculation and multiplication are particular areas where some pupils need additional support. 

Looking for a different approach

The school's relationship with Origin Maths Hub began around 2016. At the time, Michael Drayton had recently been judged Good by Ofsted. Books suggested pupils were making progress, but maths outcomes did not reflect what leaders expected. ‘We could see in books that things were going the right way,’ Diane says, ‘but then our results came in a couple of weeks after that and they were not where they needed to be.’

Diane and her team wanted to look more closely at how pupils retained and applied their learning beyond the point of teaching. They were also looking for ways to identify gaps in understanding more precisely and adapt teaching accordingly. The school's maths lead became involved with the Maths Hub and whole-school professional development followed.

Reflecting on that decision now, Diane believes the value of Maths Hub engagement lies in developing teachers rather than buying into a particular scheme or resource.

‘It is not about fads and it is not about spending significant amounts of money on workbooks or schemes. It is about upskilling teachers to be able to teach mathematics in a way that meets the needs of the pupils in their school.’

Today, participation in the relevant Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics (SKTM) programme is embedded within staff induction. Diane explains, ‘It has now become an expectation when people join the school. It is written into our induction, whether they are teaching assistants, early career teachers or experienced staff.’

Learning from others and bringing it back

The school has continued to engage with a range of Maths Hub opportunities, including the Teaching for Mastery Programme, Mastering Number and Years 5–8 Continuity. 

A key part of that work has been the contribution of local leader of maths education (LLME), Jody Bennett. Alongside her LLME role, Jody is maths lead, a Year 4 teacher and year lead. Diane values the opportunities the role provides, both for Jody and for the school.

‘It is not just about supporting other schools in the community; it is about how she can then support our pupils and staff and how she can develop teaching within our staff as well.’

She also sees value in learning from different school contexts, ‘Even when she goes into schools where there is challenge, that is always good practice, so it is about bringing that good practice back.’

More recently, the school has introduced the NCETM’s Curriculum Prioritisation materials across Key Stage 2, beginning with fractions before moving to wider implementation. 

Consistency across the school

When Diane reflects on the impact of the school's long-term engagement with the Maths Hub, consistency is the word she returns to most often. ‘We have consistency of mathematics teaching across the school because there is that expectation that people take part in training.’

Participation in Work Groups and professional development has helped teachers develop shared approaches and common expectations. Learning from individual participants is routinely shared with colleagues. ‘The impact across the school is around consistency and opportunity,’ she explains, ‘Whilst it might be one teacher working in a particular year, we have been able to replicate that across the school.’

Diane feels that this has helped effective practice spread more widely across the school.

Continuing the journey

Diane is careful not to present improvement as complete. ‘Standards are improving. We are not saying everything is fixed, but we are addressing where we are at and adapting.’

She notes that maths outcomes have moved closer to national averages over time and describes an improvement of around 20 percentage points in children meeting the expected standard compared to the position when the school first began engaging with the Maths Hub.

The school continues to focus particularly on fluency and on supporting disadvantaged pupils. It is also continuing its involvement in the Years 5-8 Continuity Work Group, which brings together primary and secondary colleagues to explore how pupils' learning can be built on more effectively as they move into Key Stage 3 maths.

Looking ahead, three new teachers joining the school will all take part in Maths Hub professional development as part of their induction. ‘We will continue to engage for the long term because we can really see the value in it.’

For Diane, her school's experience offers a clear message for others:

‘If schools want sustained improvement, I would recommend engagement with the Maths Hub.’