Early intervention programme Maths Champions expands to 1,810 new settings
Maths Champions, a professional development programme delivered by National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), is scaling up to transform early years maths across England.
The aim of this innovative early intervention programme is to improve children’s maths outcomes by improving the knowledge, skills and confidence of the practitioners working with them.
Following a successful rollout to 405 settings in 2023-24, and 800 in 2024-25, the programme will expand to an additional 1,810 fully funded settings from 2026.
Testimonials
Research has shown that children who attend a Maths Champions setting make up to three months’ additional progress in their maths and language development, with this increasing to a potential six months for disadvantaged children (EEF 2023).
Our Maths Champions have given us inspiring feedback on the progress they’ve made since completing the programme. One recent testimonial read:
“Participating in this programme was so helpful and beneficial to all our children, our parents and our staff.
We had amazing feedback from our recent Ofsted inspection as they did a deep dive in maths. They were so impressed with everything we implemented.”
Recruitment is now open, giving eligible early years settings the opportunity to join this nationally recognised programme, designed to build practitioner confidence and strengthen children’s early maths skills.
Endorsements
Early Education Minister Olivia Bailey said:
“High-impact, evidence-based programmes like Maths Champions have a key role to play in our Plan for Change to get tens of thousands more children starting school ready to learn.
“That’s why we’re backing the programme every step of the way – investing in what works to upskill early years educators, raise quality and close learning gaps.
“It’s brilliant to see so many nurseries set to take part, with up to 60,000 more children now set to benefit from the best start in life.”
Tim McLachlan, Chief Executive of NDNA, said:
“We are delighted to receive more government recognition for our Maths Champions programme. It is wonderful to be given full funding so that more staff and children in nurseries can benefit from it, and in turn give them the strongest start in maths. We are very passionate about improving staff confidence to support children’s maths skills for the future.”
Emily Yeomans, co-CEO at the Education Endowment Foundation, said:
“Our independent evaluations of the Maths Champions programme have consistently shown its potential in establishing solid foundations in maths for young children. Crucially, this potential is even greater for children from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
“A strong grounding in early maths is so important for setting up children for later success, acting as a fundamental enabler of later opportunity. So I’m delighted that we’re able to offer even more early years settings access to the programme next year.”
How to apply
Providers interested in taking part can express their interest here. Those who apply will be invited to attend an information session to find out more about the programme.
To be eligible, settings must:
- Be based in England
- Provide care for 3- and 4-year-olds
- Commit to the 12-month programme
- Appoint two Level 3 practitioners to complete the training and lead their setting.
This is a unique opportunity for early years settings to access fully funded professional development and join a growing movement dedicated to giving children the strongest start in maths.
- England
- Department for Education
- early education
- early years
- England
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