The Stockwood Park Academy Parent Engagement Guide for Supporting Your Child in Maths

One of the most significant drivers of a child’s success is a supportive network—where both home and school play the most important roles. According to the EEF 2018 Guidance report on Parental Engagement:

"Parental engagement has a positive impact on average of 4 months’ additional progress." The report also stated that "Approaches where a parent works directly with their child one-to-one typically show greater impact."

What Does This Look Like for a Stockwood Park Academy Parent?

Parents can use everyday activities at home to ‘talk maths.’

  1. Grocery budgeting and spending: Involve your child in discussions about weekly expenses such as groceries, fuel, or other essentials.
  2. Cooking conversations: Talk with your child about the maths behind cooking such measurements, proportions, and their impact. For example: How much salt or oil is too much or too little? How does this affect taste, enjoyment, or even health? (Too much oil might cause discomfort the same day, while too much salt over time can affect long-term health.)
  3. Hands-on measuring: Encourage your child to help with measuring ingredients in cooking or laundry.

Supporting Maths Homework

  1. Research from the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) notes that many parents feel anxious about helping with maths homework. At TSPA, we want to make this process simple and supportive:
  2. Create a visible timetable: Work with your child to put up a homework timetable on their wall or mirror. This makes it easier for you to see when homework is set and due without relying on their phone.
  3. Check completion, not correctness: Encourage your child to show you that homework is done (for example, a green tick on Sparxmaths indicates completion). The platform used for homework gives immediate feedback as to correctness and has built in videos to support with each question.
  4. Be present for the start: If possible, sit with your child for about 20 minutes when they begin homework.
  5. Watch videos together: This gives you insight into what they are learning and may even reduce your own maths anxiety.
  6. Ask your child to explain: Let them teach you a few problems. This reduces over-reliance on AI tools and builds your child’s confidence, they’ll feel like superheroes teaching their parent something!

Additional Support

Encourage your child to attend homework club if they need extra help. Parents are also welcome to speak with us directly if you would like additional support at home.

Research consistently shows that parental involvement not only boosts academic achievement but also helps children build confidence, resilience, and the skills to contribute positively to society.

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