This project is almost full and will be closing recruitment shortly.
The National Day Nurseries Association’s Maths Champions programme builds the knowledge of nursery practitioners to support children’s early mathematical development. It is an online, one-year programme delivered to both Private, Voluntary or Independent (PVI), maintained and school-based nursery settings.
In each setting, a ‘Maths Champion’ is selected: a senior member of staff, who is supported to drive improvement in maths practice across the setting. This member of staff, with support of an allocated Deputy Maths Champion, is supported to audit current practice and create and implement an action plan for supporting colleagues to improve maths practice throughout the year. The support includes bespoke online training, including modules on early mathematical development and coaching, resources, and one-to-one support.
All PVI, maintained and school-based nursery settings in England are eligible to participate in the programme. Settings will be onboarded from February 2024 to June 2024, with the programme being delivered over 12 months. Settings must nominate a Maths Champion and Deputy Maths Champion who are qualified at Level 3 or above. Settings with a minimum of six 3 & 4 year olds can register their interest to take part in this project below.
The EEF has run two Randomised Controlled Trials of the Maths Champions programme, which both showed positive outcomes for children’s mathematical attainment. The EEF’s first trial found an impact of two additional months’ progress for children who had received the Maths Champions programme compared to children in settings who did not receive the programme. The EEF then funded a larger effectiveness trial evaluation of programme, which had some amendments designed to improve outcomes, which found that children in PVI and school-based nurseries receiving the Maths Champions programme made an average of 3 additional months’ progress in maths and language compared to children in settings that did not receive the programme. There were also indications of a larger impact for children in receipt of Early Years Pupil Premium. The results of these trials provide strong evidence for the effectiveness of the Maths Champions programme for improving children’s maths outcomes in early years settings.
As part of the Department for Education’s Accelerator Fund, the EEF is supporting programmes that have positively impacted pupil outcomes in previous EEF trials to reach more pupils, by subsidising the cost of the programme for schools/settings. We will support these programmes to be accessible at a larger scale throughout England, with settings in Education Investment Areas being prioritised for access.
Through this fund, the Maths Champions programme is being made available at no cost to PVI, maintained and school-based nursery settings in England, however spaces are limited. Settings can express an interest in taking part below.
EEF has commissioned the Behavioural Insights Team and the Centre for Evidence and Implementation to conduct an overarching scale-up evaluation of multiple EEF scale-up projects, including Maths Champions. The evaluation aims to gather and synthesise insights and learnings across multiple programmes to understand effective approaches to scaling programmes beyond an effectiveness trial across early years and primary settings. We anticipate that the findings will be useful for the delivery providers, policy makers, as well as sector leaders to support effective programmes to reach more settings and pupils to improve education outcomes, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds.