Primary school celebratesAdvocate School status

Barncroft Primary in Park Lane was given the accolade after their adaptation of the Singapore approach – which is a maths theory where you learn fewer topics, but in greater depth.

Inspire Maths is a whole-school primary maths programme that provides everything schools need to support a mastery approach to teaching and learning mathematics, and meet the higher expectation of the new national curriculum.

Julia Roberts, headteacher at Barncroft Primary School, said: ‘Inspire Maths at Barncroft Primary School has had the impact of improving both teaching standards and pupil outcomes.

‘Pupils are showing better mathematical understanding and learning is improved; staff who have undergone Inspire training have more confidence and enthusiasm for teaching to mastery levels.

‘Our children are able to use their own drawings to represent numbers in many ways and in doing so they can solve problems efficiently and fluently.

‘They also have a secure grasp of mathematical concepts and principles and are able to speak confidently about mathematics in a range of contexts. Guided sessions promote discussion and exploration, with a strong emphasis on mathematical language, speaking in full sentences, and reasoning (by children consistently being required to explain how they know).

‘Pupils who undertook the new Key Stage One Sats in 2015 had been using the Inspire programme for 18 months. The result for pupils attaining top marks was higher than the national average at 25 per cent, so the method is clearly working.’

Sue Lowndes, Inspire Maths professional development lead for Oxford University Press, said: ‘I am delighted with Barncroft’s progress. It has been a pleasure to see how this school has improved so much, so quickly.’

n Would you like to contribute to our community pages? Would you like to write a community column? Then e-mail The News at [email protected].