Mhairi Stratton

Humbie Primary School,

East Lothian

What is Maths Recovery?• Early Intervention programme• Developed by Professor Robert Wright at Southern

Cross University, New South Wales, Australia• Identifies children at risk of failure in mathematics• Provides specialist Maths Recovery Teachers with an

intervention programme that enables then to advance children to a level at which they can be successful in a classroom situation

• Is essentially a short-term intervention programme

The Guiding Principles in MR• Teaching approach is enquiry based• Teaching is informed by assessment• Teaching focuses just beyond the cutting edge of child’s knowledge• Teachers exercise professional judgement in selecting from a bank of teaching

procedures• Teacher understands children’s numerical strategies and deliberately engenders the

development of more sophisticated strategies• Teaching involves intensive ongoing observation and continual micro-adjusting• Teaching supports and builds upon children’s intuitive, verbally based strategies• The teacher provides the sufficient time to solve the problem and reflect• Children gain intrinsic satisfaction from their problem solving, their realisation that they

are making progress, and from the verification methods they develop.

East Lothian’s Maths Recovery Teachers

• Maths Recovery Teachers (School Based) • Support for Learning Coordinators• Classroom Teachers

• Each cluster has Maths Recovery Teachers

Support for Learning Coordinators

• Schools are informed of the types of children who may benefit from MR interview.

• Identified child referred to SfL coordinator• SfL coordinator assesses child and

provides teacher with detailed diagnosis and planned activities to “move the child on”.

• Benefits / Challenges

Maths Recovery in Classroom Teaching

• Active Learning!• Maths Recovery provides teachers with a

detailed framework of numerical knowledge• A teacher who understands these elements

can begin with the child not mathematics.• This knowledge empowers teachers to be

creative with learning• Teachers are visiting schools that are using

Maths Recovery principles to improve learning through play

Why does East Lothian want to introduce Maths Recovery into every classroom?

• Maths Recovery training provides insight into the developmental stages of understanding number

• Teachers who have had this training have the understanding and confidence to provide high quality interactive maths lessons

• Teachers who have this training know how to manipulate materials to differentiate & challenge thinking

• Teachers understand how to use screening effectively• Children’s self-esteem, confidence and understanding

significantly improves

Delivers Numeracy Outcomes

• I have explored numbers, understanding that they represent quantities and I can use them to count, create sequences and describe order.

• I use practical materials and can ‘count on and

back’ to help me to understand addition and subtraction, recording my ideas and solutions in different ways.

• I can share out a group of items by making smaller groups and can split a whole object into smaller parts.

Maths Recovery in East LothianWhat do we want?

• A framework to inform and plan daily teaching

• Maths Recovery teachers for each school supporting teachers and providing detailed interviews

• SfL coordinators supporting primary schools and creating links especially into secondary

How can we raise awareness of Maths Recovery ?

Initial CPD for infant teachers raising awareness of the Maths Recovery:

• Assessment interviews for class teachers - begin with the child not mathematics.

• Developmental progressions with anchor points

• Demonstrate how to observe and record each child’s growth

• Profiling for more effective planning of Active Learning

Developmental Progressions• Forward Number Word Progression• Backward Number Word Progression• Numerals• Addition and Subtraction• Finger Patterns• Spatial Patterns• Multiplication and Division

Forward Number Word Sequence &

Number Word After Main messages:• NWS differ from counting

activities• FNWS involve saying number

words in a sequence and are sometimes referred to as “rote counting”

• Being facile with FNWS is an important aspect of early number knowledge

• It provides the basis for many early arithmetical strategies

Backward Number Word Sequence &

Number Word Before

Main messages:• BNWS usually progresses

more slowly than FNWS • Facility with BNWS

usually indicates that the student has a strong knowledge of the number word sequences by ones

• This enables them access to a wider range of strategies

NumeralsMain messages:• It is important to realise the

complexity of introducing numerals• Numeral identification involves both

generating the sound of the name and associating it with the written symbol.

• Sequencing numerals also indicates a child’s understanding of early number. It shows the links that the child has made between numerals and number words.

Addition and SubtractionMain messages:• A child must be able to ascribe

numerosity to a collection. This requires one-to-one correspondence and coordinating A NWS

• Children solve addition and subtraction differently from adults and each other.

• Using concrete materials and screens helps determine the strategies that a child will use.

Addition and Subtraction

Main messages:• Tasks involving screened

collections provide a bridge between totally concrete and totally abstract maths

Finger PatternsMain messages:• Children use fingers in

many different ways to assist with partitions and combinations that support the development of more sophisticated arithmetical strategies

• Finger Patterns are used to develop strategies for structuring numbers to 10

• Facile use of partitions and combination to 5, then 10 assist the child in mental computations.

Spatial Patterns

Main messages:• Spatial patterns are used

to develop strategies for structuring numbers to 10 and eventually 20.

• Facile use of partitions and combination to 5, then 10 and then 20 assist the child in mental computations.

• (Demo)

Multiplication and Division

Main messages:• Initial ideas of

multiplication are linked to combining a number of groups, each of which contain an equal number of items.

• Initial ideas of division are linked to sharing a collection of items into equal groups.

• Developing the idea of an abstract composite unit is fundamental for learning multiplication and division.

Training

Initial Professional Development

• Overview and theoretical basis of Maths Recovery

• Aspects of progressions• Class assessment – Explanation of tasks

and administration• Observing children solving task - reflect• Details of school task.

School Task

• ½ day out of class.• Try out assessment. Video It!• Reflect• Work with another teacher?

Follow-up Workshop Components

• Evaluate ½ day in school• Assessment analysis• Class profile to guide active learning • Teaching exemplars – sharing good

practice• Classroom management

Pilot

• Two approaches• Have to! – cluster approach• Want to – school approach

Support• Drop in sessions• 15 Maths Recovery teachers

supporting training class teachers• 26 Maths Recovery Teachers

supporting schools• Maths Recovery blog (Beginning)• Active Learning Sessions – AiFL• Maths Recovery training

So what are we beginning to see in these schools?

Children talking as they learn

Children learning in a variety of ways

Children confidently working at their level of understanding

Teacher recognising and building on stages of development

Moving towards the abstract is gradual

Children self-check

Satisfied learners

Confident teaching

Confident learning

Introducing symbols when the time is right.

Challenging Thinking• Formative Assessment (AiFL)• How• “Why?”• “How did you know?”• “Prove it!”• “Prove it another way!”• “What if…?”

“Can we have Maths Recovery

training, please?”

So where are we now?

• 1 Accredited MR Trainer• 26 Maths Recovery Teachers• 15 Maths Recovery Teachers are

supporting training• We have around 20/35 schools

with MR input (Over 70 Teachers)

The future• All teaching staff have initial CPD in

Maths Recovery• Learning assistant CPD in Maths

Recovery techniques• Maths Recovery coordinators for each

cluster (PGCE Maths Recovery)• Maths Recovery Assessment and

Teaching available as CPD modules• Fully accredited Maths Recovery

Teachers in every school

East Lothian – Bigger Picture

• Maths Recovery Council• Scottish Network of Maths

Recovery Teachers• Maths Recovery Cluster

Coordinator Meetings (Monthly)• East Lothian Maths Recovery Blog• Cluster drop-in sessions• Planned inter-cluster CPD

Mhairi Strattonmhairistratton@btinternet.com