ET-JUN22-MATHS WHIZZ FP ADV.qxp_Page 6 06/06/2022 11:30 Page 45


COMPUTING & IT


Accelerating Learning in Maths at Lordship Lane Primary


By Yasemin Jemal, Maths Lead & Year 6 Teacher L


ordship Lane Primary, Wood


Green, London is an inclusive school which embraces the diversity of our community. The school provides a safe and nurturing environment which enables children to become confident and ambitious learners. Like many schools, class sizes are large, made up of over 30 students with diverse needs. TWe have been a partner with Whizz Education


for ten years, using their award winning virtual tutor Maths-Whizz as an intervention for 30 students, however, a recent visit from our educational partner Ben Slack encouraged a change of strategy to get full use out of the platform. This is where we decided to focus on one Year group (Year 6) to support students who had fallen behind the most in maths. Following a planning session we agreed our


goal was that all of our 75 students in Y6 would spend 45 minutes per week on Maths-Whizz, with the objective of achieving accelerating learning progress in maths in advance of the forthcoming SATS assessment. Maths-Whizz is brilliant because it differentiates


learning. The virtual tutor initially assesses each child and pitches lessons at their level across a range of topics covering the whole maths curriculum. We also use Maths-Whizz in class, so we can all be working on the same topic, but each pupil can make progress at their own rate. This is really helpful in a class with a range of abilities. Maths-Whizz can be set for homework too. Ben used his expertise as a former teacher of ten


years to add tremendous value to the implementation of Maths-Whizz in our school. During school visits, Ben setup Q&A sessions with our children and teachers, which resulted in increased understanding, engagement and enjoyment on completing both the exercise and test elements of the curriculum. We noticed a marked improvement in the pace of work due to improved fluency in calculations, especially with middle attainers.


June 2022 www.education-today.co.uk 45 We have been pleased and reassured to find


that the assessment data generated automatically by Maths-Whizz aligns precisely with our assessment system Star Maths, so we can evaluate accurately where each child is in relation to their level of progress. Our Star Assessments showed 51% of Year 6


were Below Age Expectations in the Autumn, 49% at Age and 15% above Age Expectations. In our Spring 2 assessments, just a few months since we started using Maths-Whizz in a strategic way, the whole of Y6 has shown significant improvement: with 35% Below Age Expectations, 65% at Age and 27% Above Age Expectations. The lower attainers have responded particularly


well. They love the interactive nature of the tutor that recognises and automatically adapts to their knowledge. Children are in control and have visibility of their success, which is paramount in improving engagement and enjoyment in maths and reducing maths anxiety Across the three classes in Y6, there is now a


genuine excitement and interest in maths. Pupils who I don’t teach even come up to me as the Maths Lead, to tell me about how well they are doing on Maths-Whizz! We celebrate successes during assembly based


on usage and Whizz has provided us with a Trophy for the class with the most engagement. Because Maths-Whizz is so great for supporting


children with different needs, the teaching staff really appreciate this as an appropriate tool to enable them to achieve improved learning outcomes. Therefore, due to the success of working in partnership with Whizz Education, we have decided to double the size of the programme next year to include some of Y5 and Y2 students too. We are now looking forward to even more of our pupils achieving accelerated learning in maths with the help of Whizz Education.


uhttps://www.whizz.com


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