Leadership

Catching up on maths in early years

Children in England are still starting their primary education with considerable differences in their maths skills and those differences continue right through their education. Liz Bayram explores how achieving a strong maths foundation in a child’s early years can make all the difference.
Children with hands up

All registered childcare settings in England – nurseries, childminders, nursery schools; pre-schools and childcare on domestic premises - are expected to deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage framework with a clear focus on supporting children’s numeracy and enjoyment of maths from a very early age. The word in enjoyment is key to the approach early years takes in supporting our youngest children to have fun whilst growing their understanding and confidence in numbers.

The EYFS states “mathematics involves providing children with opportunities to develop and improve their skills in counting, understanding and using numbers, calculating simple addition and substraction problems and to describe shapes, spaces and measures”1

The EYFS  is not as prescriptive a curriculum as the national curriculum. Its focus is on setting out the developmental stages a child should achieve over the first five years of their life and how an early years practitioner can best support that development. There is a strong focus on practitioners knowing each child in their care – through observation, assessment and partnership with their parents/carer – and using this knowledge to tailor the learning opportunities to that child, building on the activities they like to do, planning next steps and regularly observing progress so it can be built upon. 

Numeracy and literacy are core components of the EYFS but valued equally with other physical, social and emotional areas of development. This demands an integrated and personalised approach to planning a child’s development, building on what they like to do and ensuring that every activity is an opportunity to explore  numbers as well as many other things. Anyone who knows a two year old will understand how critical it is to support them to learn and develop in their own style. If Lucy is a constructor and likes building ‘stuff’ and knocking it down; then the early years practitioner will ensure through this activity Lucy also gets to explore numbers; ideally colours, size and shape too – all while she is still having fun building her tower and knocking it down again.

Numeracy in the early years is so much more than just counting and number recognition, something that can surprise many parents as well as some new to the profession. It’s also about shape, pattern, space, measurements and solving real-life problems. All practitioners know that babies are competent learners from birth. At the heart of the EYFS is the assumption that pre-school early education should enable children to explore a wide range of concepts to support them to gain the foundations they need to be ready to learn when they start school.

One of the key challenges facing the early years sector is that many of the practitioners who enter the profession can do so with a lack of confidence in their own numeracy. Indeed the sector has recently been in a long and heated debate with government on the relative importance of practitioner literacy and numeracy in delivering high quality learning to children. Until April, the Department for Education had stated that no practitioner could count in the child/adult ratio in a group setting unless they were qualified to Level 3 and held Maths and English GCSE grade C or above. The focus behind this requirement was a wish to ensure high quality practitioners, confident in their literacy and numeracy, were teaching our youngest children. This was something the early years sector as a whole had supported when Professor Cathy Nutbrown2 recommended this as part of her wider proposals on workforce reform. The challenge however was in how then Ministers interpreted this requirement as being narrowly measured by only a GCSE grade C. This contradicted what the sector had asked for – GCSEs and/or equivalent functional skills qualifications. As a result, the decision has negatively impacted on quality, with less and less young people choosing to undertake a career in childcare because they did not have the required GCSE grades and a number of well qualified Level 2 practitioners unable to progress to Level 3 because – as working adults – they would have to go back to study for their GCSEs.  In summary, the attainment gap that so many people in early years are working to address, was coming full circle back to prevent many settings from being able to employ the staff they need to deliver high quality care!

After much debate, the DfE in March finally announced it would change the requirement to allow individuals with a function skills grade 2 qualification to undertake the recognised Early Years Educator Level 3 qualification, thereby allowing far more people the opportunity to study and progress3. PACEY had repeatedly called for this change so is delighted action has now been taken. We believe it strikes the right balance between ensuring individuals can enter the profession and be supported to progress, with the need to ensure practitioners are confident in their own numeracy and literacy, something many have traditionally found hard at school. Until the day our education system achieves its goal of young people leaving school with at least a GCSE grade C in Maths and English, this is the right balance for early years to take.

Working with FEA, PACEY collaborated with a number of organisations to identify early years best practice around closing the attainment gap in mathematics. The research4 showed there were some strong common tenets across all settings that were succeeding in their work with disadvantaged children. It started with strong mathematics leadership in a setting. Leaders with a good knowledge and understanding of mathematics and mathematics teaching and learning were central to raising the profile of maths in a setting and ensuring it was part of all the activities children enjoyed.

Settings also recognised that their practitioners were likely to need support to grow their numeracy confidence and skills, so focused CPD was offered. Key also was providing time for staff to plan numeracy activities together. These activities were best delivered in a ‘real-life’ context -  developed through theme work and games – and ensuring children got immediate feedback. Part of this is talking to and listening to children, so settings know their children better- their strengths, areas for development and the things they enjoy. This, backed up with close monitoring and assessing of children, were the foundations to an early years setting ensuring children’s numeracy development was embedded in the things they enjoyed, ensuring mathematical learning was not only rewarding but also fun.

What was striking in all these exemplar nursery and childminding settings was how numeracy was integrated into everything they did. Indeed most of the time the young children in their care didn’t think they were having a maths lesson, they were simply having fun! 

More than this was how early years practitioners also recognised the important role early numeracy plays in growing children’s creativity and confidence. How enormously satisfying and rewarding it is for very young children to be able to problem solve. Just as important for being ready for school as knowing how to count to 10 or to recognise your own name when spelt out. 

There were many components to this excellent practice, starting with the setting’s environment. Numbers, shapes etc. were everywhere in these settings, displayed at the children’s height; different shapes being used for name tags and so on. Even before specific numeracy resources and sessions are used through the day, children are surrounded by mathematical concepts.

Of course the role of the practitioner or teacher is also critical. Children see their practitioners using numbers every day. The best practitioners will think out loud when undertaking a task, even when unrelated to the children. For example, preparing lunch in a childminding setting allows the practitioner to count out portions, talk about halving and sharing equally. Good practitioners find endless opportunities to count out loud – how many coats am I hanging up today? How many pencils do we need? Alongside this there are endless examples of how adult led play can support numeracy development in a fun and interactive way. Just one example, once children are familiar with either the 1–10 or 1–20 number lines, is the “Number Robber”. At different times in the day, a practitioner removes one or more numbers from the number line(s) and then supports children to notice the missing numbers. A number hunt may also take place or children are provided with materials to create their replacement number.

Teache helping kids with maths based game

Mathematical language is of course critical – longest, shortest, more and less – are all used regularly in numeracy friendly settings so children become familiar with these concepts from an early age. For babies often it is songs and games, such as staking cups, that first introduce these concepts.  They help children to practice and consolidate maths concepts as well as respond to the rhythm and patterns within. For older children role play can be extremely effective. We all recall the pleasures of a mud kitchen. They offer children opportunities for role play and home corner play, enriched by natural objects outdoors. More effective than indoor play kitchens or sandpits, they allow children to experiment with different consistencies and textures as well as use different sized containers to empty and fill. Cooking ingredients can include pebbles, twigs, gravel, sand, mud, leaves, fir cones, shells. All helping children explore how different ingredients work with different utensils.

As already mentioned, early numeracy is also key to supporting children’ early problem solving. It not only builds self-esteem and confidence, it also helps to consolidate their knowledge of mathematical concepts. The problem to be solved should be linked to an area of interest for a child; they should be given the time they need to solve the problem (even if it means returning to it many times) and careful practitioner intervention is key to ensuring a child doesn’t become frustrated by the process. Talking through how a child solved the problem with them reinforces their learning and makes it easier for them the next time. A problem solving table or shelf in a setting is ideal, so children can return to the challenge throughout the day reducing the pressure to succeed then and there.

Last but by no means least, all the best practice settings visited for the FEA report had strong partnership with parents that ensured children’s enjoyment and experience of numeracy extended to their home. For many families living in disadvantage, their own experience of maths at school may well have been negative. They too may not be mathematically confident to support their children. Whilst the opportunity to share a board game – an old favourite such as snakes and ladders – can help some (they not only extend a child’s numeracy but also support their emotional development as they learn to cope with winning, losing and so on); for some disadvantaged families this may not work. A best practice setting will recognise this and support parents, whether they feel confident with maths or not, to recognise that the way they use maths every day at home, from cooking to telling the time or counting out money are just as important to share with their children, to help reinforce the skills they are learning at their nursery or childminder, as game playing or more complex numeracy sessions.

As evidenced in the FEA’s report, some settings took steps to share resources with families to further encourage home learning. Maths on the back is one example from Early Years Maths that supports children to take home number resources and ideas to try at home with their parents. Many organisations, including National Numeracy, have a wealth of information to support parents available on their website.

Many settings were featured in the FEA report. Bottesford Bunnies Pre-school in Scunthorpe was one of them and, like all the others, they had integrated numeracy into every aspect of their practice. Bottesford has a maximum of 33 children for each session, aged from 2-4 years. Nine of these children are eligible for Two Year old funding, one has access to EYPP, one child is EAL and 12 children require SEN support. Bottesford’s manager is Level 6 qualified with Early Years Teacher status, She has also completed a Mathematic training programme via her local authority. Of her team of 8 staff, 6 are qualified to Level 3 and two at Level 2. The setting has seen dramatic improvement in a short period of time, moving from Ofsted Require Improvement grade in 2011 to Outstanding in 2014. 

The settings leader is clear that ‘making maths fun, engaging and exciting’ was central to their success and the performance data speaks for itself in Autumn 2015- 36% of boys and 58% of girls were at the expected stage of development in Maths; at the end of the academic year Summer 2016, this had improved to 64% of boys and 75% of girls. 

This improvement journey began when cohort tracking data and practitioner concerns highlighted that their key children were showing limited understanding of mathematics. The manger studied the progress of children across all areas of the EYFS and found a gap in maths. The team worked together to develop a Focus Improvement Plan outlining Mathematical Actions. Being part of Achieving Early enabled Bottesford to have a stronger focus on maths strategies and interventions for their ‘most vulnerable children’; this also had an impact on outcomes for all children

Among many things, Bottesford recognised it had a gap in its resources, especially around shapes, so it purchased lots of different shapes such as carpet tiles with circles, triangles imprinted. This has supported more interactive play with these shapes. For example the children now play musical shapes instead of musical chairs. The shapes have also become an obstacle course for the children who are asked to jump from triangle to circle etc. This activity has been particularly good for boys; as its physical nature encourages their engagement and enjoyment

A staff survey also revealed the many negative experiences of maths the staff team had in school, so the manager gave careful thought to the language used for maths and her particular training approach.

All of the work at Bottesford is backed up with a strong partnership with parents. The setting has parents who are already keen to engage in their child’s learning and when children are doing topics in nursery, related activity/ interactive sheets are sent home, asking parents/carers to support and consolidate their child’s learning.

Behind this great practice, is of course strong assessment and planning by a child’s key person (with quality checks made on this process every term) as well as investment in the staff teams CPD. The manager provided in-house training with a focus on modelling and demonstrating how they could use maths. Initially, staff, were asked to record opportunities for maths on large sheets of paper placed in each area of the room. The manager gave examples covering areas such as ‘snacks- ‘how many spaces at the table- that is maths.’ Staff, were encouraged to develop this approach with all children- for example- how many plates are missing? Is the jug heavy or light?  With each area, the manager and the staff highlighted missed opportunities for maths and different examples of mathematical language that they could use and model for the children. Alongside this there was maths peer observations and training, often based on a recent journal article or moderation of children’s observations during team meetings. 

With limited space, this article has focused on key areas of early numeracy best practice and how, through this, settings can make mathematical thinking second nature for children. In turn this means children start school confident in their maths ability and, most important of all, enjoying maths – key to ensuring they can make the most of their primary maths education. We discovered so many examples of great practice – Bottesfords was just one and I want to thank all the nurseries, pre-schools and childminders who took time to share their excellent practice for the FEA research. The only way we are going to close the maths gap at age 11 between children from poor families and their more advantaged peers is through the strong whole approach to maths that is being fostered in these and many other early years settings. 

With over 90% of early years setting now judged good or outstanding by Ofsted, the skills and capacity to invest in this approach are there. Challenges are ahead including the roll out of 30 hours of free childcare from this September but, if we can overcome the sustainability challenges, there is a unique opportunity to tackle this and the wider attainment gap for many pre-school children.

In summary the following are the particular practices, approaches and actions common across early years settings who have developed strong mathematical practice:

Teacher and students

Staff training and Qualifications - There is a focus across the settings on well trained and knowledgeable staff lead or managed by  a teacher or someone with EYTS or EYPS; On going CPD including programmes such as NDNA’s Maths Champion were seen as key

Environment - The physical surroundings form an important part of children’s maths development, not just numbers and shapes but items arranged on high and low shelfs.

Adult/child interaction - settings focused on maximising the adult/child interaction to support children in their learning and encourage their independence. 

Knowing the children well - across all settings teachers and practitioners know the children well- their strengths, areas for development and interests. 

Clear leadership of maths - this is led by proactive maths leads/managers, who are well qualified with further training in maths education; they know what they ‘don’t know’, know how to find out and know how to develop staff. 

Making maths fun - Settings acknowledged the importance of making maths enjoyable, underpinned by an emphasis on children developing confidence and independence.  

Problem solving within a meaningful context - settings regularly and frequently focused on problem -solving within real-life situations. 

Planning - was carefully thought through in all settings. In some, there was a focus on staff planning together, which also supported their CPD. 

Parents - all settings acknowledged the importance of parent engagement in children’s learning, 

Liz Bayram is Chief Executive at Professional Association for Childcare and Early Years (PACEY).

Notes

1. Early Years Foundation Stage Framework, Department for Education, March 2017.

2. Foundations for Quality, The independent review of early education and childcare qualifications, June 2012.

3. Early Years Workforce Strategy, Department for Education, March 2017. 

4. Closing the attainment gap in maths: a study of good practice in early years and primary settings, Dr. Catherine Knowles, Fair Education Alliance, February 2017.