You’re a busy headteacher, but you want your school to take advantage of the free maths-specific CPD offered by your local Maths Hub. All the other successful schools in your area are involved, and you want to learn more about how to be part of the Maths Hubs Programme. Sound familiar? In this five-minute read, discover what’s available to you, how to access it, and what other headteachers say about working with their local Maths Hub.

What is a Maths Hub and what does it offer?

There are 40 Maths Hubs, and they cover the whole of England. You are already ‘in’ a Maths Hub, even if you haven’t yet been in touch or accessed any support or professional development!

Whilst Maths Hubs are led by a Lead School, College or Trust, they are actually a network, and harness all the subject-specific expertise in the areas they serve. This means that, very often, professional development can come to you. If you join a Teaching for Mastery Development Work Group, for example, one or two teachers from your school will attend local face-to-face CPD sessions with colleagues from other nearby schools, but you will also receive visits from a Mastery Specialist – a teacher trained in mastery who will help your school develop its maths curriculum and pedagogy, whichever mastery scheme you use.

READ: What is a Maths Hub, and how do they form a national network?

Once you have contacted your local hub, they will let you know what professional development opportunities, or ‘projects’, are available in your area. Each project is designed to offer a long-term approach to improving maths in your school and is evidence-based. Maths Hubs don’t offer any one-off ‘courses’; we all know that they just don’t work if you want sustainable change that lasts. Instead, Work Groups provide opportunities for your teachers to get together with local colleagues throughout the year, observe expert teaching and best practice, and try out new approaches in their own classrooms in between.

You might even be eligible to participate in Targeted Support in Maths, a new project which offers bespoke support to schools that do not yet have the capacity to benefit from the full Teaching for Mastery Programme.

UNDERSTAND: The types of professional and school development offered by Maths Hubs

As well as Work Groups, teachers or TAs in your school might want to take part in Specialist Knowledge for Teaching Mathematics programmes. These develop an individual’s subject knowledge and pedagogy, and there is even a programme for non-specialists teaching secondary maths. You might also have a passionate and skilful teacher who would benefit from training as a Mastery Specialist.

DISCOVER: Over 30 professional development opportunities available for teachers and TAs in all phases

How can I find and contact my local Maths Hub?

If you work in a state-funded school in England, you can find your Maths Hub easily on the NCETM website. Simply type your school name or URN into the search box, or search by your school’s postcode, town or street.

FIND MY HUB: Discover the Maths Hub which serves your school

Once you’ve identified your hub, click on the hub name and you’ll find their website details, and an email address to get in touch with them directly. You could also contact them via social media. Someone at the hub will be able to talk to you about the best options for your school.

If you’re part of a trust, you can also work with Maths Hubs, even if the schools in your trust span several hub boundaries.

EXPLORE: How MATs can work in partnership with Maths Hubs

What do other headteachers say about the benefits for their school of working with their local Maths Hub?

We have spoken to hundreds of headteachers whose schools have improved their outcomes in maths as a result of working with their local Maths Hub. Just search ‘headteacher’ on our website to read what they have to say, or hear it first-hand in videos and podcasts.

“The work that we do is very fulfilling, and the work the children do, with our support, help and guidance. And the Maths Hub is part of that support, help and guidance – we do change those children's lives. When they leave us and go to secondary school, they're in a really strong place mathematically.”
– Sarah Smith, executive headteacher at Christ the King Catholic Academy and St Cuthbert's Catholic Academy, Blackpool.

LISTEN: Podcast episode with a primary headteacher who loves working with her local Maths Hub

“In all year groups, students are more resilient and engaged, particularly when it comes to problem solving”
– Rae Potter, headteacher at Sarah Bonnell School in London.

READ: Maths Hubs Programme report for 2022/23

“The really high-quality CPD [via the Maths Hub] makes such a difference to outcomes and children’s engagement with learning. The benefits of that CPD which members of staff bring back in to develop the quality of teaching and learning in school is absolutely priceless.”
– Lynn Mayes, headteacher at Queen Katharine Academy in Peterborough.

WATCH: 15-minute video of a secondary headteacher discussing ‘priceless’ benefits of working with the local Maths Hub

WATCH: Interviews with school leaders in primary and secondary schools that have embraced teaching for mastery

If you want to know more about what Maths Hubs offer all state-funded schools in England, simply find yours and get in touch. Over half of all schools are already involved. If you’re not, why not? There’s something for every school, and everyone who teaches maths.

Contact your local Maths Hub now

Get in touch and speak to the Maths Hub Lead, Project Manager or another member of the team to find out what your school can participate in this year.

Find your hub