Published November 29, 2024 Written by Rebecca Smith

The story of Maths Champions: Boosting children’s early maths outcomes

Stella Ziolkowski, Director of Quality and Training, NDNA, explores how the Maths Champions programme boosts children’s early maths outcomes in nurseries.

I found mathematics very daunting at school and looking back, I am sure I suffered from maths anxiety.

It didn’t come naturally to me, and I felt stupid that I couldn’t grasp some of the concepts. I also struggled to think about how some of these equations were relevant to everyday life!

Now with my passion for lifelong learning, I understand why these things are important.

What does the research say about maths in early years?

According to research by the University of Cambridge: “Many children and adults experience feelings of anxiety, apprehension, tension or discomfort when confronted by a maths problem.”

The Maths Champions journey started in 2014 when practitioners holding a level 3 qualification were also required to hold a Mathematics GCSE at grade C or equivalent. A good proportion of early years practitioners didn’t hold this qualification so we knew that progression for the existing workforce would be challenging.

Staff are motivated when they have room to grow within their chosen occupation, but this could be a barrier. The Department for Education (DfE) commissioned NDNA to develop and deliver a project designed to enhance children’s mathematical experiences in early years settings.

This programme was to provide maths support, training and guidance to ‘Champions’ across settings in England. Those Champions supported practitioners in their setting to evaluate their own skills and confidence levels in maths.

Published research shows that practitioner confidence is important in influencing children to be confident and successful learners. They are likely to spot more opportunities, use more mathematical language and extend learning further for children they educate.

Following an initial evaluation carried out by the Maths Champion from within the setting, practitioners are helped to develop and improve their skills in understanding and teaching maths with the support of NDNA’s materials and tools.

One of the audit tools within the programme assesses practitioner confidence levels. This covered practitioners’ own feelings about maths; how they use maths in their daily life; their confidence in teaching maths through play and talking to parents about their child’s mathematical development. Initial audits showed that staff confidence levels were low or very low.

Poor experiences in maths at school affected many practitioners’ confidence levels and enjoyment of maths. Maths Champions converted these audits into action plans to help them support each team member with low confidence and NDNA provided support tools with starting points to help the Champions do this.

What does research tell us about the impact of Maths Champions?

When practitioners evaluated the project 93% of practitioners showed improvement in their confidence levels in supporting maths through play for under-fives. This has had a significant impact on the learning environment they provide.

‘The confidence levels of the team have gone sky high. When we introduced the project we had a lot of negative comments because they were afraid of what ‘maths’ they needed to do, they were all scared… now they actively choose to do more maths and access more support for their own needs’.

‘The staff have all been surprised by how good they are at maths when most felt that maths was a weakness at the beginning of the project’.

NDNA secured funding through Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) for an evaluation of Maths Champions to independently measure the impact on children’s learning. This first trial was independently evaluated by the University of York and Durham University. They found that children who participated in Maths Champions made the equivalent of two additional months’ progress in maths, compared to children in the comparison group. However, due to drop out rates the results were not reliably conclusive.

This first trial was a great learning experience. The programme showed promise in improving children’s outcomes, but there was room for improvement. NDNA worked with maths expert Dr Sue Gifford to improve the programme, focussing on how confidence of practitioners could be developed through day-to-day practice.

NDNA secured a second, laregr evaluation trial which engaged 140 PVI and maintained school nursery settings and involved1400 children aged three to four. Once again the evaluation was carried out by University of York and Durham University. The key conclusion from this second study in July 2023 demonstrated:

Children on the Maths Champions Programme made, on average three month’s additional progress in maths and language attainment compared to the children in the control group

Children eligible for Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) in the intervention nurseries made, on average, the equivalent of six months’ additional progress in maths attainment compared to children eligible for EYPP in control nurseries. These results, while promising, should be treated with more caution than the analysis on all pupils as fewer children were included in this analysis. (see source here)

These findings had a very high security rating which tested whether the intervention worked under everyday conditions in a large number of settings.

Long term outcomes of Maths Champions in early years

The report was followed up in June 2024 to add in long-term outcomes collected from the National Pupil Database (NPD) for children who had been in the trial.

This exploratory analysis found that children in Maths Champion nurseries made, on average, the equivalent of two months’ additional progress in mathematics and language attainment compared to children in control nurseries, as well as being slightly more likely to attain a Good Level of Development (GLD) compared to children in control nurseries.

Children eligible for EYPP in the intervention nurseries made, on average, the equivalent of six months’ additional progress in mathematics attainment compared to children eligible for EYPP in control nurseries. There were fewer children in this analysis.

We were delighted that the additional progress that children sustained into primary school was as a result of attending a Maths Champion nursery.

NDNA continues to measure the impact this is having on staff. Those participating on the programme have told us how confidence of their staff team has grown.

Penny had previously classed maths as her ‘weakness’, suffered maths anxiety and like many, undervalued the importance of maths in the early years. Penny went back to college in 2020 at the age of 50 and gained her maths GCSE in order to access the BA Hons degree in Early Years Studies. It was here that she gained her newfound passion for maths in the early years and later decided to sign up for Maths Champions. 

Penny has taken a whole setting approach with the programme in both settings and reported that all staff and children have benefitted. Penny has hosted Inset training days for staff and successfully motivated the whole team. Penny reports that she has seen the staff and children thrive and grow. She particularly likes how Maths Champions include ‘carefully devised core activities’ with consideration to the financial difficulties that settings are facing.

So what’s next for Maths Champions?

It’s been a long but worthwhile ten-year journey. We want to support more practitioners to develop confidence and a love for maths, which we know means more children improve their outcomes and future attainment.

Between now and April 2025 we are recruiting 800 more nurseries (PVI and maintained settings), extending Maths Champions throughout England, supported by EEF and DfE Accelerator funds.

To find out more about the programme and how it works visit our Maths Champions page.

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