Education Today Education Today Magazine
It’s a challenge many maths leads will recognise. Pupils may perform well in assessments but struggle to apply their knowledge independently.
Different starting points, misconceptions, low confidence and difficulties with problem-solving and that’s just the pupils.
For Natalie Perry, Maths Lead at Reid Street, these challenges are all too familiar:
- Difficulty measuring progress: “Children sit a test each term which says they can do it, but that’s only once in a test.”
- Struggling to identify gaps: “What is it that we’re missing? What are we spending time going back over?”
- Limited resources: “Lack of money and not enough TAs means delivering interventions can be really difficult.”
- Demanding curriculum: “The maths curriculum is so intense, there’s so much to cover – and you need to be constantly revisiting concepts.”
So how can schools build pupils’ mathematical understanding and confidence while keeping the curriculum moving?
DreamBox Maths provides personalised learning that encourages pupils to explore concepts, try different approaches and work things out for themselves.
Teachers gain insight into how pupils are learning and where they may need additional support or challenge.
Natalie shared:
“Put simply, it’s a really good programme to support children in their maths confidence and understanding. Our SATs results were 73% for maths, which is brilliant and higher than the children’s predicted scores!
“The biggest thing for us is having data telling us where those gaps in learning are. DreamBox Maths really does help identify those gaps. With the programme, we can see where pupils are working.
“We want to keep revisiting and reinforcing learning, not just getting it right once. With DreamBox Maths, pupils have to prove it over and over. A programme re-enforcing class learning helps build deeper understanding and meaning, not just the method.
“Reasoning and problem-solving are also important, and the programme is brilliant for reasoning practice. DreamBox Maths shows that maths can be fun and exploratory. You can look at different manipulatives, make mistakes and that’s OK.
“The children ask if they can go on the programme more. That’s what you want.
“The biggest impact is with our children from Years 3 to 6 who are working between a Year 1 and 2 curriculum.
“My daughter is in that group. She struggles academically, but loves DreamBox Maths because it finds a way for her to be able to understand maths and the progress she has made.”
See what DreamBox Maths could do for your school.
Take part in a fully supported four-week pilot to see how pupils engage with maths, identify learning needs and explore how DreamBox Maths encourages independent thinking and problem-solving, with support from an Education Development Consultant throughout.
Find out more about DreamBox Maths
