Sally Maddison, Headteacher
Sir John Sherbrooke Junior School
The great thing about Third Space Learning is that pupils get the chance to receive one to one feedback.
Our maths teaching has always been very solid, in how it’s taught and how well it’s taught. Our reason for looking into Third Space Learning was that we wanted to provide that extra level of one to one support for our pupils. The intervention provides those essential additional opportunities for pupils to receive one to one feedback from their tutors. All of the children have always made really good progress.
Before the sessions, one of our pupils was always saying things like ‘I’m rubbish at maths’ and ‘I find it really hard’. By receiving that one to one support on a weekly basis, her engagement really improved. We noticed that in class she was more confident and more willing to give it a try.
The sessions fit easily into our school timetable and pupils really look forward to their sessions each week.
The session runs at 13:00 every week, which works well because it’s not during the whole class’ maths lesson, but an extra bit of support that goes alongside what they are learning in class rather than replacing it.
When the pupils sit down for their sessions, they really get into it! They have their own headphones, they’ve got their own exercises on their screen and they’re having that independent conversation. Even though it’s 20 of them in a room, they don’t bother each other during the sessions as they’re so engaged in the work they’re doing with their tutors.
It’s been so valuable for those pupils who aren’t as confident with maths.
We have found that the best way to use the one to one tutoring is with children that are nervous about maths and just need that extra bit of confidence to get to the expected level.
These are pupils that are fairly capable but lack confidence. They may take longer to process information, or lack self-belief to commit to the maths, which is what is so beneficial about the one to one tuition; it gives them that extra one to one time to focus and build on their maths confidence with a tutor that they trust.
The Maths Hub resources are also a huge part of our school’s maths approach.
Every single child does Fluent in Five every morning as soon as they come in. It is a great resource that works really well as it means maths is effectively embedded in everyday learning. Third Space learning provides that extra layer of support to our pupil’s both through the interventions and the great resources.
This means that the money we spend on Third Space Learning isn’t just benefitting the pupils using the intervention but the entire school.
My advice to schools that are a bit unsure about Third Space Learning would be to give it a try!
It really helps children who are a bit unsure about maths. It’s brilliant at giving children confidence and the chance to be honest and open in a one to one setting.
Children are really used to using technology now, but it’s a creative and really focused way to use technology. Plus, it really takes some of the stress off of the teacher! Teachers can then use their time to support other children and monitor the reports to see how much progress the children taking part in the sessions are making.
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One of the challenges we were facing as a school was with independent learning and revision. There was variation in the work being […]
Read full case studyNick Clark, Director of Learning for Maths
George Eliot Academy
Trusted by 4,000+ school leaders across the UK to provide cost-effective one to one maths tutoring for the pupils who need it most.
90% of pupils show a solid understanding of each concept at the end of each session.
In an independent trial, pupils made 7 months’ progress in 14 weeks.
100% of teachers surveyed felt the sessions helped pupils achieve higher scores in 2023.