TSM Spotlight – Copnor Primary School, Portsmouth

Targeted Support in Mathematics (TSM) gives schools the chance to work towards the full Teaching for Mastery Programme by addressing specific barriers to implementation in order to meet pupil needs in each school. Enhanced support involves a bespoke provision for leaders and teachers. Working with a dedicated Enhanced Support Partner to create strategic plans and long-term goals, schools can address their own unique challenges and create a maths teaching culture which ensures that teaching for mastery will be built on a solid foundation. In our TSM Spotlight series, we hear from schools that have taken part in Enhanced support as part of the TSM programme, and learn how they are already seeing improvements in maths teaching and learning.

Why Enhanced support?

Copnor Primary School in Portsmouth, Hampshire is a larger than average primary with around 650 pupils on roll and approximately 22% of pupils eligible for free school meals. Teachers and leaders first started working with Solent Maths Hub around eight years ago, but it has been Enhanced support which has really enabled maths lead Beth Eddy and other school leaders to develop a revised maths curriculum that has seen clear improvements in both teaching practices and pupil engagement.

Copnor was eligible for Enhanced support as a result of challenges which had impacted pupils’ mathematical confidence and progress. Prior issues with behaviour and inconsistent teaching, along with a significant number of pupils entering the school below age-related expectations, meant that Copnor was keen to work with the Maths Hub. Enhanced support focuses on building on a school’s strengths as well as addressing challenges, and the school’s leadership capacity, staff commitment and openness to evidence-informed change made it the perfect candidate to get the most out of it.

What needed to change?

Leaders at Copnor knew that maths teaching lacked consistency, and end of KS2 results were poor. Although concrete and pictorial resources were often present in lessons, pupils were not consistently supported to make explicit links between representations, which limited their conceptual understanding. Beth and other staff knew that teaching for mastery would address inequalities between pupils and give teachers a framework on which to build high-quality lessons, but they needed some help to develop a coherent plan for change.

Working with Pippa Andrews, Assistant Maths Hub Lead at Solent Maths Hub and the school’s designated Enhanced Support Partner, Beth and the team at Copnor were able to be laser-focused in making decisions about what to tackle. Following an initial joint learning walk with Pippa, Beth and school leaders, a key ambition was identified: to improve pupils’ conceptual understanding by strengthening the use of CPA (concrete–pictorial–abstract) approaches across lessons and learning journeys. They knew that this, alongside improving pupils’ use of mathematical language and core number knowledge, would reduce attainment gaps and lead to consistent lessons in which all pupils were supported.

'If something's not going right, you don't keep going.'
– Beth Eddy, Copnor maths lead

What did Enhanced support involve?

Throughout the academic year, a sustained programme of enhanced visits meant that Beth received bespoke guidance, which she was able to use to develop the wider staff body. Pippa also wanted to make sure that the changes would last, with Beth able to continue leading the change and building on the improvements even when the support ended.

The support followed the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) implementation cycle, a framework that helps schools plan, put into practice and sustain changes to teaching. It included learning walks and joint lesson observations with Pippa, as well as pupil conferencing, joint planning and curriculum discussions, targeted CPD meetings, and follow-up coaching. Beth’s analysis of the school’s data showed that the end of Year 3 saw a dip in attainment for pupils, so that was identified as an area for focus. Units of work were examined forensically, and rewritten to ensure that planning catered for the needs of all pupils.

'Staff see the value of an external person coming in. It’s not all on me. It’s been very structured and organised.'
– Beth Eddy, Copnor maths lead

The Enhanced support package was extensive, but designed to build on what the school knew and were doing, rather than to increase teachers’ workloads and make changes outside the school’s own strategic vision. Senior leaders, subject leaders, Key Stage leaders and teachers were all involved, meaning work was shared out and everyone had a common understanding of priorities and how to implement them.

'Their success was really down to an absolute commitment and desire to bring about change. We managed to balance some immediate changes that were urgent alongside taking the time to deeply explore school context and all phases and year groups to really unpick what was needed. Senior leaders actively engaged at key points in the process, whilst empowering and placing absolute trust in the maths and phase lead, who collaborated on the implementation.'
– Pippa Andrews, Enhanced Support Partner

What changed?

Change was able to happen because Copnor had a culture of trust, reflection and professional learning. Leadership of maths was strong, and curriculum expectations and planning structures were clear. Professional development was evidence-informed and ongoing rather than a ‘one-off’. Staff had time to embed change and reflect on impact and refine practice, rather than making superficial or short term adjustments.

Change started to be seen across the school. Staff became more confident in selecting and using manipulatives appropriately, and in making explicit links between CPA stages. Mathematical language and stem sentences began to be used more consistently to support reasoning and explanation.

'The school planned carefully to ensure that their vision was possible and the ‘Prepare’ and ‘Deliver’ stages of the work encompassed all element of the EEF guidance. We produced an extensive implementation plan which became a true working document so reviews and any adaptations could be included to show the progress being made.'
– Pippa Andrews, Enhanced Support Partner

In lessons, pupils demonstrated improved engagement, greater confidence in explaining their thinking, and more secure conceptual understanding. Books showed clearer coherence between input, representation and independent work, and tasks were more effectively adapted to meet a range of needs.

Mastering Number has now been embedded in EYFS and KS1, and is being developed in KS2. There is a clearer shared understanding of next steps for adaptive practice, and maths teaching across the school is more consistent.

'The standard of teaching in maths now is so much greater. It’s been a massive improvement. The percentage of pupils achieving ARE has gone from 40% to 75%. We are now above average in our local authority.'
– Beth Eddy, Copnor maths lead

What’s next?

Beth and the team at Copnor are delighted with the progress that has been made, and know they now have firm foundations on which to build on the work that has already taken place. 

Beth is now a Work Group Lead for Solent Maths Hub, and will ensure that teaching for mastery principles continue to be embedded across the school in line with whole school priorities. Copnor’s focus will be on developing staff subject knowledge, strengthening learning journeys based on pupil starting points, embedding oracy, and reviewing assessment systems to better inform planning.

If you think your school may be eligible for Enhanced support to help you build the foundation for improvement in maths teaching and learning, contact your local Maths Hub.