Maths programme helping disengaged students bridge the gap
Additional £15k grant will help Sam Slingsby scale up his Numeracy Bridger project
A maths intervention that has already transformed the skills and confidence of dozens of disengaged pupils is set to expand, thanks to a £15,000 scaling grant from SHINE.
Developed by Sam Slingsby, a teacher at the Educational Diversity alternative provision (AP) in Blackpool, Numeracy Bridger addresses gaps in fundamental maths and arithmetic knowledge among secondary-age pupils who have become disengaged from the subject.
The need is significant: nearly 47% of school pupils in Blackpool live in the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England. And in 2022/23, 45.1% of students in Blackpool achieved grades 9 to 4 in English and maths GCSE, compared to 65.4% nationally.
“For a lot of Blackpool pupils, life outside school is complex. Numeracy may not always be top of their priorities, but when they see they can do it, that starts to shift things,” said Sam.
With SHINE’s support, Sam plans to roll out Numeracy Bridger to other AP schools, which serve children unable to attend mainstream or special schools, often due to exclusion or behavioural challenges.
Impact Highlights
The drive to expand is rooted in strong evidence from Blackpool.
- Over the past two years, 74 pupils engaged with Numeracy Bridger, with 55 completing the programme. Of those, 44 improved their numeracy age by an average of 1.9 years.
- The smallest increase was five months and the biggest increase was four years
- Confidence also rose sharply. Out of the 39 students who completed the confidence band survey, all improved their confidence. The average student improved their confidence by 33.79 points across 12 sessions.
- Even partial participation brought benefits. Sam explains “Although pupils might not have completed the intervention, at least they were given an opportunity where they could concentrate and focus on some additional maths. Without SHINE’s funding they wouldn’t have got that opportunity.
“It’s a privilege to be supported by SHINE on the journey again,” said Sam. “SHINE recognise the impact the intervention is having, especially within alternative provision.
Our aim is to branch into other AP schools in Blackpool and across the North West.
The vision is to show AP’s and schools the impact of Numeracy Bridger and ask them to commit to providing a teaching assistant to deliver the intervention to their pupils. “It’s about creating a clear structure that schools can adopt, adapt, and sustain – even without big budgets or endless staffing.”
Numeracy Bridger is a series of twelve, 30-minute sessions, run one-to-one, or in small groups. The sessions are based on the fundamental numeracy skills that underpin a large proportion of the GCSE curriculum – addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
The sessions also introduce real-life concepts such as house bills, tax, mortgages, and rent.
Sam is determined not to grow too fast, mindful of the challenges of sustainability.
“SHINE want me to work at the correct pace to get this right. Work with one AP, set it up, support it, then move into another one, so that we keep it manageable,” he explained.
He has already spoken to one partner AP keen to use the programme.
“They recognise that gaps in fundamental numeracy are a huge barrier. In an alternative provision, if someone is low in confidence and missing the fundamental knowledge, it could actually manifest into a behaviour issue of avoidance. They’re keen to work with me and SHINE to develop Numeracy Bridger as part of their intervention too.”
Sam attributes much of the success to the project’s simple, traditional approach. “It’s practical. It’s handwritten, tactile. Away from the screens for a change. Pen and paper – they’ve got to write down the methods, structure them, practice them, and then apply it in context. We saw pupils who had written themselves off in maths re-engage, make real progress, and start saying things like ‘I actually get this now’.
“When pupils re-engage, it unlocks more than just grades – once your basics are secure, you can apply them to many topics in GCSE and importantly, to your life in society. You can work out how much money you’ve got, calculate if something is a good deal, or whether to wait until the end of the month to pay for it, if your income covers your outgoings.”
For Sam, the new grant is also recognition of years of dedication. “I’m immensely proud of what I have achieved so far, he said. “I haven’t tried to sell the intervention or make money from it. I’m just trying to develop a system that works so pupils can gain access to additional lessons,” he said.
A highlight was being invited to the House of Lords recently to showcase the project alongside other SHINE grantees. “I was extremely proud and honoured to visit the House of Lords and represent my school, represent Blackpool and the pupils that we work for,” Sam said. “That was a career highlight.”
With SHINE’s backing, Sam is focused on creating a lasting legacy. “If schools buy into the vision behind Numeracy Bridger and they can provide a member of staff, then they’re also helping the bigger picture of improving pupils’ numeracy outcomes nationally,” he said.
“We believe with the progress we’ve made at Educational Diversity, the vision for the next two years is for Numeracy Bridger to be something that sits in AP schools not just in Blackpool, but anywhere pupils need that second chance to rebuild the basics.