Interventions

[momtothree]

Does anyone "do" maths interventions?

We seem to have lots based on phonics writing mind maps finger gym social skills emotional literacy but nothing for maths catch up?

Is there a reason

Yes-we do. We have Numicon interventions, an SEN maths group and several catch up maths groups.

Which year group are you?

Interventions are across the school - one TA does X and another does Y - I have been doing catch up y4 but this is being replaced by another phonics - it annoys me they maths is seen as inferior to literacy:spelling/phonics etc

I have seen primary aged children make huge progress once they gain the confidence of quickish recall of basic number facts and it is mostly down to practice.

TBH, most children can improve their quick recall of number facts like bonds/times tables quite dramatically with just 5-10 mins practice once or twice a day at school, with no adult required if they are given practice sheets at the right level of challenge.

I have just been trained to do a maths intervention, called 1st class@number . This is aimed at KS1. There is one for KS2 as well. On top of this I do small group maths interventions which I plan myself covering topics such as times tables, number bonds and repeating class activities which some children don't 'get' within the numeracy lessons.
I'm a LSA based in year 2 .

We had a Numbers Count trained teacher, working mostly with year 2 children who was absolutely fantastic and made a huge difference. Other Maths interventions tried (eg catch up numeracy) just weren't as effective.

When I rule the world, all teachers will be teaching mastery lessons and then there won't be any need for interventions in this way;)

My HT and DH went on OFSTED training recently and said that pace is out and Mastery is in!

I'm on an NCETM Primary Maths Mastery project, and it's pretty mind blowing! I'm significantly over excited about the difference it's making to my class, but the mind set shift required from everyone is huge. However, the message from the top of NCETM is that The Department want Mastery to happen so all Ofsted inspectors have been trained in teaching for mastery (using materials supplied by NCETM) and we were clearly instructed that if anyone has any problems with an Ofsted inspector, they should let NCETM know asap and they will get on to Jane Jones, the lead Ofsted Maths inspector, who will hunt the offender down!!!

Is anyone going to train the teachers in 'Mastery'?! It's barely been mentioned in my school yet Ofsted are trained and looking for it??

We just had ofsted and no one mentioned mastery. It's not the buzz word in my school... Yet!

OMG, have just been googling the NCETM Maths Mastery and the first bit I read on a related blog says:

Many of our key principles are indeed tried and tested, proven strategies. We didn’t invent the idea of the using concrete apparatus alongside pictorial representations to help students understand and use abstract notation. Nor were we the first to suggest that problem-solving skills should be developed at the same time as the learning of new mathematical content – not as an often-omitted afterthought.

However, what is new is how we bring lots of this good practice together into one approach. For example, many schools follow a ‘spiral curriculum’ – flitting between topics every day or week. In both our primary and our secondary curriculum plans, we’ve used a ‘cumulative’ structure. Each half-term, we teach fewer topics in greater depth, and we build upon and revisit mathematical topics throughout the year to develop and consolidate understanding.

This means students are constantly making links between concepts, drawing on previous learning to problem solve and help them tackle new ideas. Yes good teaching is of course paramount, but the mastery approach guides this.

This is exactly how I (an old dinosaur from pre-original NC) teach in our specialist setting. It works! Not slavishly following a spiral curriculum and keeping on with topics till they really get them.

I really hope our CPD providers get training on this too as it's a totally different message to the one that has been peddled for the last 20 years

There are relatively few maths interventions (someone told me there are 14 literacy interventions for every one maths intervention). Choose an intervention that is evidence based rather than the latest fad.

The Education Endowment Foundation has some maths interventions and gives an indication of cost and impact based on research evidence.

Maths mastery mentioned above is listed as having a moderate impact - it may be worth looking at other interventions with a higher impact.