Follow a Bolton primary school’s journey to meeting intervention needs and improved maths SATs results
St James CE Primary School discovered DreamBox Maths after initially using our partner reading programme, Reading Plus.
After seeing a massive impact and realising Daisy Education also provided a maths offering, they wanted the same support for their pupils in maths.
“DreamBox Maths is worth it. Especially now, where it's hard to have the staff for interventions - it's an intervention you can be confident is having an impact. It's tailored, and the children actually engage with and enjoy the programme, which is really hard to find. I would encourage any school to have a go.”
Harriet Craven, former Year 6 teacher and Maths Lead at St James, shares how the adaptive online maths programme improved mental resilience, problem-solving skills and confidence – getting Year 6 pupils at the school ready for SATs.
Preparing confident mathematicians ahead of SATs
Pupils definitely have more confidence in maths since they began using the programme – and more enjoyment for it as well.
We started DreamBox Maths in the run-up to SATs with our Year 6s. They were getting tired of a lot of our SATs prep, and the programme was something different for them to do that helped engage them and spur them on - and they found it fun.
The fact that it's not just sitting and doing practice papers or questions was a much-needed boost to morale. DreamBox Maths definitely impacted the growth in confidence and SATs success.
Improving mental resilience for better outcomes
Pupils have been able to transfer their DreamBox Maths learning into the classroom really effectively.
Not only has the programme expanded their knowledge, it has also helped build resilience because some of the lessons require pupils to think ‘What is it that I actually need to do to get to the answer?’ The scaffolding functions that add further support helped them realise ‘If I break it down a little bit further, I can tackle these questions that at first I might find challenging’. It shows that there are strategies to support them.
DreamBox Maths also improved pupils’ mental resilience by exposing them to different visual representations. When they then encountered these within maths lessons, it wasn't as daunting because they could recognise it and practise that skill of working out ‘What is it showing me? How can I link that representation to something I already know?’ As it was less intimidating, pupils were better engaged and focused.
Improving problem solving and reasoning
For us, it has definitely impacted problem solving and reasoning. Our pupils typically found these question types the most difficult, as many children do, but we saw them become more confident in applying knowledge to reasoning and problem solving as we moved through the programme.
I think it's because the programme doesn’t just hand answers to them, they have to work for it - which is a skill that they're not used to having to use sometimes. If they find something challenging, they normally just give up, but the programme is built to combat that.
We started with Year 6 before we rolled it out across the school, but we could see how the programme would impact every single year group with progress and attainment - not just in preparation for SATs.
Meeting intervention needs
We were struggling with intervention, and DreamBox Maths seemed the best way to get tailored interventions for all children because we didn't have the adults that we needed.
Now we use it at least three times a week. For children we are really focusing on, we get them to do a little bit extra - maybe ten minutes when they come in after dinner or first thing in the morning.
As it isn’t something we need to plan or resource, it’s really easy to get children on – even for ten minutes - and you know they are actually getting something beneficial.
We also use it for homework, which we were struggling with previously, but if it's something they can do on a device, you get better engagement.
Comprehensive reporting to support teaching
The DreamBox Maths data is incredibly useful. We use it regularly to track progress as well as to decide who might need more time on the programme to fill gaps.
It was really helpful to identify which areas we weren't secure in as a whole, but also specific children – which is especially helpful for those we are targeting who we really want to push into EXS. It really narrowed down what those children needed support with.
Easy implementation and free customer support
The support from Daisy Education is absolutely great.
The initial setup was useful. We weren't overwhelmed with everything it can do - it started as the basics to get going, and then once you'd got to grips with that, the check-ins were really helpful for providing more information alongside us figuring out things in the process of using it. The support was also really tailored to our needs. Any issues we had, we'd email and get a response pretty much straight away.
We felt really supported - so that was great.
Book a brief introductory meeting online with one of our Maths Development Consultants to explore the advantages of DreamBox Maths for your school.
Call:
0191 389 6078
