Improving Maths and English at Key Stage 3

Attainment in Maths and English at GCSE in Ipswich was below the national average, and one of the reasons the town was identified as an Opportunity Area, as failing to achieve a grade 4 or 5 was holding young people back from progressing post 16.

School leaders told us that a key issue in solving this problem was ensuring that students make sufficient progress in these subjects at KS3 .

Secondary schools in Ipswich investigated evidence based approaches that would lead to sustainable improved outcomes in Maths and English at Key Stage 3, and created action plans for projects to improve these subject areas in their own schools.

Funding was also allocated to schools to develop collaborative approaches across schools and trusts, working together to share the expertise and resources of their respective Maths and English departments.

• Schools met as a group to discuss the challenges and successes in their practice.
• Each school developed evidence based approaches in English and/or maths.
• Separately they also developed collaborative approaches to be used in each secondary school.
• Projects were implemented, embedded and evaluated.

Take a look at our case studies to see the different approaches that Ipswich schools took.

No one size fits all when it comes to improving Maths and English in different contexts – but strong planning, implementation and an understanding of the evidence around improving Maths and English outcomes are key.