Targeted Support in Maths – one school’s story

When Liskeard Hillfort Primary School needed extra support to develop its maths curriculum, CODE Maths Hub stepped in. Through tailored guidance and a deepening culture of collaboration, Liskeard Hillfort is seeing strong results – and their journey with teaching for mastery is far from over.

Targeted Support in Maths involves schools being supported by their local Maths Hub if they do not currently have the capacity to engage fully with the standard Teaching for Mastery Programme. Leaders at the Maths Hub work with leaders at the school to identify and address barriers to success for pupils in maths. Importantly, schools need to be committed to making long-term improvements in maths, and to work closely with their local Maths Hub over a number of years. 

In Cornwall, Liskeard Hillfort Primary School met the criteria for intensive support, and they are already seeing the benefits of this bespoke programme. The school has 388 pupils on roll, with around one in three eligible for free school meals. In 2019, they joined the Truro and Penwith Academy Trust. 

Liskeard Hillfort had actively engaged in teaching for mastery, participating in Mastery Readiness initially, then moving to the main mastery programme with progression through the Development and Embedding phases and into Sustaining. Their ongoing partnership with CODE had shaped their approach to maths education, but the school’s challenging context and some internal changes meant additional support was needed to develop improvement plans and to facilitate critical reflection on where they were in order to achieve their objectives.

Targeted Support for the school began in 2024, and was part of a bigger picture in their approach to maths. The challenges posed by the Covid pandemic had offered Liskeard Hillfort’s leadership team an opportunity to reflect deeply on their maths curriculum design. As a school previously judged to be ‘Requiring Improvement’, earlier support had been frequent but lacked the cohesion needed to make lasting improvement. To tackle this, the school’s leadership team set out to create a unified and effective approach to maths teaching with Code Maths Hub’s support.

Their journey began with a focus on Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, adapting these to inform curriculum design. This led to the development of a ‘MAPA’ framework: Model, Assess, Practise, Assess. 

• Model: The teacher models the content of the lesson. They ensure that they use relevant conceptual images and talk through their thinking so that children have a clear understanding of the learning. The teacher then practises step-by-step with the children, guiding them to early success, building confidence as they go. 
• Assess: Before children move onto practising independently, the teacher will ask a question which will search for misconceptions and common errors. 
• Practise: Those who demonstrate clear understanding and confidence in the initial ‘assess’ stage move on to independent practice. If children are not confident with the question, they will have more guided practice with the teacher before moving into independent practice.
• Assess: At the end of the lesson, the teacher will consider the class as a whole and decide whether they are ready to move on or whether more instruction or practice are required to enable the next step to build on secure understanding.

Using the NCETM Professional Development Materials as a foundation – and with support from the team at CODE – the school set to work. Maths lead and assistant head Matt Larcombe, along with then deputy head Kate Eyre, meticulously planned a whole-school maths curriculum overview. Since 2021, staff have used the NCETM resources to carefully design year group-specific plans that ensure consistency and depth in maths teaching across the school. Aligning them with the school’s MAPA approach ensured mastery would be firmly embedded.

Underpinning the success of the revised maths curriculum required protected intervention time for pre-teaching and re-teaching concepts, alongside targeted provision for children with SEND. The priority, however, remained keeping all children in the classroom with the teacher whenever possible. Highly-skilled teaching assistants acted as the ‘eyes and ears’ of the classroom, supporting teachers to ensure no child was left behind. Interventions and support were systematically recorded and communicated, ensuring transparency across year groups.

Matt dedicated significant time to staff development, resulting in a maths curriculum that was both thoughtfully and strategically planned. Ensuring staff felt well-trained and confident fostered a culture where teaching was strong, and all children actively engaged in maths lessons and experienced success. 

In autumn 2024, colleagues from CODE Maths Hub and the NCETM visited the school to see the effects of the new maths curriculum. They observed an atmosphere of purposeful learning in each classroom. Pupils were confidently articulating their learning using mathematical language, and were demonstrating a clear understanding of the concepts being taught.

Teachers at Liskeard Hillfort reported that while the initial workload was demanding, the effort was worthwhile. They noted that using the NCETM materials developed their pedagogical understanding and their appreciation of how purposeful decisions can impact on learning. The structured lessons, rooted in deliberate planning choices, enabled a seamless progression of skills across the school. Teachers said they felt a sense of ownership and a deep understanding of what and why they were teaching.

The leadership team at Liskeard Hillfort have cultivated a strong maths identity, with staff describing how the process has ‘upskilled them as teachers’ and created richer experiences for pupils. Four years into their journey, they are adept at refining and adapting the curriculum to meet their needs year-on-year for each cohort. The NCETM materials have facilitated bespoke thinking, while a carefully crafted marking policy allows time for deep reflection and planning.

The support from CODE Maths Hub has been a consistent pillar throughout this journey. Recently, through the Targeted Support offer, the school benefited from three days of tailored support. Assistant Maths Hub Lead Josh Lury provided strategic guidance to Matt, offering fresh perspectives and expertise. Matt described this collaboration as having a ‘huge impact’, noting that CODE’s support has evolved alongside the school’s needs. Crucially, this relationship has been one of partnership, where support feels collaborative rather than prescriptive.

Liskeard Hillfort’s progress is evident: their most recent Ofsted inspection saw them achieve a ‘Good’ rating in all areas. With a new headteacher joining in September 2024, the intention is to continue their maths journey and to keep developing teachers’ subject and pedagogical knowledge. There are ongoing plans to integrate programmes such as Mastering Number and the Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics (SKTMs) for ECTs, teachers, and TAs. Their next considerations are the purposeful use of manipulatives, and opportunities for children to further enjoy reasoning, problem solving and experimenting, with a particular focus on those children who grasp concepts quickly.

The school’s ongoing journey is already bearing fruit, reflected in their best-ever SATs results last year – a testament not only to the team’s hard work and commitment to excellence in maths education, but also to the impact of their sustained engagement with the Maths Hub. The future of maths at Liskeard Hillfort – both for teachers and pupils – looks bright.