Christ Church Primary School

The support has meant we can achieve our vision for maths and continue to move it forward. Staff were always fully supportive in our vision, but needed that additional support to achieve it. The service has been exceptional, and the positive passion from the staff from the TIE has helped us transform our maths provision. We will continue to use this support to maintain our exciting development.

Emma Midgley, Headteacher, Christ Church (Pellon) CE Primary School

The context

Christ Church (Pellon) C of E Primary School engaged with the Trinity Institute of Education (TIE) and White Rose Maths in response to an Ofsted report and the school’s concerns that pupil attainment had fallen below the national average.

“Maths became a priority due to the pupils’ low attainment and progress, and we recognised that we needed support from subject specialists to drive this priority forward.”

Headteacher – Emma Midgley

The SIS package for Christ Church CE (Pellon) Primary

The relationship between the school and the TIE developed organically. Initially, the school asked for some one-off support to help implement White Rose Maths’ free schemes of learning and assessments, which in turn identified other support needs. Emma decided to commission a longer-term package of support, custom-designed to meet the team’s needs.

The package included:

• training in Bar Modelling, CPA and the schemes of learning
• lesson modelling
• lesson observations with feedback
• clarification and communication of the school’s main maths message
• supporting teachers’ planning
• regular visits from maths specialists for work reviews and book scrutiny
• individual coaching to improve practice
• direct support for the maths subject leader to ensure sustainable progress following the SIS collaboration.

Our School-to-School Support is always bespoke. We delivered practical solutions to skills needs, along with support and mentoring for the maths lead to ensure sustainability.

Mark Foster, Director of TIE

Inbuilt flexibility

Part of the school’s SIS was funded through a bid. The TIE helped formulate the bid and ensured sufficient flexibility in the provision. David Kirk observes, “This flexibility is crucial, as it’s often not until you start a project that other needs become apparent. For example, after several observations we realised that there were some inconsistent messages to staff about maths. We responded by delivering training for all to make certain that all staff were working towards one shared vision.”

Praiseworthy progress

The impact of the SIS collaboration is shown and celebrated in pupil attainment. From its ’below national average’ status, the school has embraced change and pupils are broadly on target. The early years provision now sits above national averages, a position the school believes will in time be true for all year groups. The school has moved on from ‘requiring improvement’ and is now an Ofsted ‘Good’ school. Ofsted also praised the maths provision on offer.