Investing in Great Maths Projects

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With increased pressure on budgets, textbooks can be extremely costly for schools, and also for parents. This affects disadvantaged students the most, who don’t have the means to seek out alternative resources. That’s why SHINE is supporting John Corbett’s Corbettmaths website through Let Teachers SHINE; a platform with freely accessible eBooks, which contain resources and worksheets suitable for both the classroom and as homework.

The Corbettmaths eBooks dramatically help students with their mathematical studies, both inside of school and at home. As they are freely accessible online, they break down the resources divide between students who have easy access to resources, and those who don’t. The resources on Corbettmaths.com are incredibly popular, with over five million downloads from the website in the 2015/2016 academic year from a wide range of schools.


The eBooks aim to cover all topics and are suitable for all abilities from Years 7 to 9 as well as eBooks for GCSE Higher and GCSE Foundation.

The best way to become successful in mathematics is to practise mathematics. The 5-a-day Corbettmaths activity provides students with the perfect “little and often” way to consolidate their mathematical learning and ensure retention.

The Head of Mathematics at Clacton Coastal Academy says of Corbettmaths; “I recommend the 5-a-day to the students to use at the various levels. The students really like this as they know they have a help video if they need it and can see a variety of questions on a topic rather than completing 10 similar questions.”

The Head Teacher at The Dearne ALC has said; “I use 5-a-day every day! Two sheets for homework, handed in the next day and I mark them overnight. The whole faculty uses 5 a day. The impact is that our students’ basic maths skills are clearly improving. What’s more, the children do the homework without question! They like it!”

Another maths Teacher that we are supporting through the 2016 Let Teachers SHINE programme is Michelle Hayfron of Belleville Primary School in London. Whilst John is looking at maths resources, Michelle is taking a different approach in looking at the method in which maths in taught in schools.

Michelle’s Guided Eye for Maths Mastery projects looks at the conceptual understanding of maths. It utilises the Singapore style of teaching, ensuring that the students learning maths not only understand how to do it, but also why.

Michelle has developed two short programmes – an introduction to Singapore style Mastery teaching and a development course for those who are further developing their proficiency. The three-day introductory course focuses on the theory behind Singapore maths. The follow up one day course continues to develop these areas, with an additional focus on tackling misconceptions.

Both provide opportunities to learn the theory behind the pedagogy, then observe it in practice by watching real life lessons taught by class Teachers. Participants then develop and practise the techniques themselves. Alongside the training, the project provides guidance, resources and exemplars that the Teachers can use back in their own schools.

To find out more about our Teacher-led Innovation projects, you can visit this page, or see a full list of our Let Teachers SHINE projects here.