How a team approach to the Early Years Pupil Premium is transforming our maths practice

A team approach

When we had some recent staffing and leadership changes, we realised that we had an opportunity to review our EYPP spending together as a team. Long-standing staff shared their deep knowledge and new members brought fresh ideas.

We knew that honest self-evaluation was an important starting point. We focused our discussions on the unique strengths and needs of our children. This was to ensure every penny makes a meaningful difference.

What did our data tell us?

As part of our self-evaluation, we examined our data. Our nursery children transition into Dale Primary School and we share the same senior leadership team. This means we can keep tracking our children after they leave.

Our data showed a significant gap in 'Number' between children from low-income families and their peers. This gap wasn't a fleeting issue in nursery, it continued through to the end of Reception.

Children lacked confidence, and we noticed they struggled with counting. They had difficulty with one-to-one correspondencePairing one number word with one item whilst counting. – giving each object one number when counting them. For example, we noticed that children often said more than one number when touching an item to count it, or at the snack table they would touch the same piece of fruit more than once when they were counting them.

Why does maths matter?

We know that a child’s early mathematical understanding is a powerful predictor of later school achievement. We used the EEF’s ‘Improving Mathematics in Early Years and KS1’ guidance report to reflect on our current practice.

After reflecting on the report’s recommendations, we identified two core areas for our team to focus on:

• Enhancing staff understanding of mathematical development and effective teaching (Recommendation 1).

• Using assessment effectively to make sure our teaching builds on what each child already knows (Recommendation 4).

Develop quality practice

The EEF Guide to the Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) says high-quality education and careHigh-quality education and care refers to the quality of educators’ day-to-day interactions that support children’s development and the care they experience. has the greatest impact on children's outcomes. We decided our priority needed to be investing in evidence-based professional development for the whole team

We didn't want a ‘one-off' training session but something that had been rigorously evaluated and was going to have a long-lasting impact on practice.

Choosing the Maths Champions programme

After evaluating our options, we decided to sign up to the Maths Champions programme. Evaluations show that children in settings using the programme make an average of three additional months’ progress in both maths and language compared to those who do not.

The structure of the programme perfectly mirrored our "team approach." The programme stood out because it prioritises coaching, reflection and collaborative development—exactly the culture we are building. In every setting, a senior staff member is appointed as the Maths Champion supported by an allocated Deputy Maths Champion.

As a team, we felt this was the ideal fit for our setting. We chose the Lead Teacher from our 3-year-old unit to be our Maths Champion, with a key staff member from the 2-year-old unit as their deputy. We intentionally chose this dual-leadership approach to ensure that:

• Consistency: mathematical language and pedagogy are aligned from the very start of a child's journey at age two.

• Transition: children move more smoothly into the 3-year-old unit and later into Reception

• Sustainability: expertise is shared across the whole foundation stage, not held by one person.

Timings for success

While we were eager to begin, we made the strategic decision to begin the Maths Champions programme in April 2026. This deliberate pause, rather than rushing into it, was designed to allow our newest team members to fully settle into their roles and ensure we had a secure plan in place. This ensured the programme would launch with confidence rather than urgency. It also allowed us to prepare the structures needed for it to run smoothly.

How EYPP funding helped

We used a large part of our Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) funding to pay for staff cover. This means our Maths Champion and Deputy can step away from their rooms and focus on the important behind-the-scenes work needed to lead the project.