Despite her best efforts in school, Ali is behind age-related expectations in maths

Ali didn't enjoy maths, because she found it boring. "I never do maths at home," she said.

All Callum could say was “I don’t know.” He just wanted to hide.

Callum used to hate English lessons because he felt confused by complicated words and he didn’t feel confident enough to come up with ideas for stories. However, when he met the Grimmologists from Graham Grimm’s mystical world, the magic of storytelling was brought to life.

Sometimes the most important challenge we face is to listen

If we are to nurture and protect vulnerable learners, we need to work with the whole family, not just the child in isolation, and do so at an early stage.

Now in Year 8, Ethan is loving school and his confidence levels have soared, along with his attainment.

Ethan was bullied a lot at primary school and, despite being bright, he lacked confidence. His teachers were really worried about how the move to secondary might affect him.

It’s amazing the sudden progress she has made. The way she will now speak to adults confidently and share her ideas. It’s just incredible.

Ever since starting reception, Eva had been very shy. She always avoided eye contact with adults and never put her hand up in class to share ideas. Both Eva’s mum and her teacher were acutely aware of how reluctant she was at school.

At just six years old, Freda has already encountered significant challenges in her young life.

Freda quickly engaged with the Chatta sessions, initially naming friends and later sharing facts about seahorses. Soon, she was speaking in simple sentences and was able to provide clear, ordered explanations.

Khadija arrived in Bradford from Pakistan in 2019. She didn’t speak very much English and was particularly worried about how her youngest daughter, Hafsa, was going to manage at school.

Not knowing many people in the city, and with little knowledge of British education, Khadija tried her best to teach 3-year-old Hafsa with some resources she purchased herself, but it was a struggle.

Kofi lives with his parents in a small high-rise flat, where space is tight and opportunities for learning activities are limited.

The programme has effectively boosted Mum’s confidence in supporting Kofi’s learning, especially in reading. The structured sessions equipped her with practical skills and strategies to foster a more supportive and engaging learning environment at home.

Layla was extremely shy at school. Unlike most other three-year-olds, she was not yet speaking at all, so communicating with others was very difficult.

To try and improve matters, Layla’s nursery teacher suggested she should take part in the new Family Literacy Project being run at her school. The project, which is funded by SHINE, aims to raise the literacy attainment of disadvantaged nursery children in South Yorkshire by working alongside families in their homes.

Even though he was only 10 years old, Lee would storm out of the house in a rage, refusing to say where he was going or when he would be back

Lee was finding primary school increasingly stressful. The noise of other children and all the questions from the teacher made him anxious and upset. Nobody seemed to understand how he was feeling.

Lincoln never used to say a word in class. Then his school introduced Chatta into daily lessons.

Lincoln is now confident and happy to stand at the front of class and tell his classmates about what he did at the weekend.

When I first met Jess I was really shy and didn’t speak much but now I talk a lot, like, a lot!

To begin with, Lizzie and Lydia were both very shy about sharing ideas with their mentor Jess. But as the project progressed, they soon came out of their shells. The friends are now happy to vocalise their opinions and to read aloud, and have come to realise that older students are not as scary as they previously thought.

When Louise started on the programme she had been going through a very tricky time at home. She struggled to concentrate and keep still in class.

Thanks to Ready Let's Read, created by teacher Rachel Ward, Louise is now able to read and her life chances have been transformed.

We knew the main barriers would be limited resources and teachers being a bit frightened to teach science because of a lack of subject knowledge.

How a Let Teachers SHINE project in Bolton is helping istil a love of science in primary school children from a young age.

It is our duty as teachers to make sure that every child can reach their full potential in life.

With Let Teachers SHINE funding, Nicol Winfield launched a maths masterclass project to help parents to support their child with maths at home.

When Poppy started school, she had a vocabulary of no more than 10 words and could not speak in sentences

Before joining St Paul’s Catholic Primary School, in Billingham, Teesside, Poppy had been living abroad, where limited opportunities for interaction with other children had hindered her social and linguistic development.

Although she’d been nervous to begin with, Rachel soon got to know the other mums and dads

Rachel has two young children, 18-month-old Amy and four-year-old Aaron. She suffers from anxiety, and while she wants the best for her children, she is low in confidence when it comes to educating them at home. She often worries that Aaron seems to be reluctant to read.

It's taken me two years, but now I'm a Rock God!

Riley struggled at school. He felt frustrated when he didn't understand and was reticent about putting up his hand to ask the teacher. Now, his maths skills have skyrocketed and he's become a role model for others.

Sofia "had no idea what UCAS was" before starting her A-Levels. By the end of college, she had secured a place to study biomedicine at a top London University.

Sofia, who speaks English as an additional language, came to study at Leeds Sixth Form College. She struggled with anxiety towards learning and had low confidence in her ability, particularly when it came to attempting exam questions.

Steven started falling behind at school, especially in maths, where his parents most struggle to help.

Steven used to find maths really difficult and he used to make up excuses not to do his homework because he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. With help from HegartyMaths, Steven’s grades have improved significantly.