Intervention
Programme
Spot On With Numbers, in collaboration with Mathematics Counts, have developed an early intervention programme. Mathematics Counts is run by Louise Matthews, who was the former head of Every Child Counts and has over 30 years experience in maths education. The Intervention programme contains everything you required to guide children in developing early number sense. Furthermore, it includes research based support for learners with dyscalculic tendencies and strategies for improving working memory.
The Intervention Programme comprises 36 sessions of approximately 45 minutes each. It is designed to be delivered up to 3 times a week, either one-to-one or in small groups of up to 4 children.
The sessions are organised into 6 topics that focus on key aspects of number, drawing on research into the mathematics that causes the most difficulties for pupils:
1. Numbers 0-5
2. Numbers 6-10
3. Exploring 10
4. Place Value to 20
5. Additive Reasoning
6. Multiplicative Reasoning.
Included in each session are activities to develop working memory and improve visual memory. The intervention guide covers making connections between:
- the concrete experiences the children have with the physical resources
- the pictures (Spot On visuals, place value cards and number lines etc)
- the language (in the suggested discussions and use of sentence frames)
- the mathematical symbols used.
The guide contains all the information necessary to lead Learning Support Assistants or Teachers to successfully implement the programme. It includes communication with teachers through ‘Spot On post cards’ and every topic has a ‘Spot On at home’ activity to promote parental involvement.
The Spot On resources are tactile and visual. This makes them ideal for supporting learners to develop number sense; coupled with specifically designed strategies to improve visualisation skills, the programme successfully guides children to progress from working in the concrete when they are ready.
The Spot On With Numbers Intervention Programme is designed to:
- raise the attainment of children in KS1 who have moderate difficulties in mathematics by accelerating their progress to catch up with their peers.
- raise the attainment of older pupils who have specific difficulties in mathematics including dyscalculia.
- create positive attitudes to mathematics and achieve the confidence and mathematical understanding needed to continue to learn successfully after the intervention.
All the information needed to teach the Spot On With Numbers Early Intervention Programme is in this pack. However, Teaching Assistants, Link Teachers and non-teaching specialists would greatly benefit from Intervention Training. This professional development training will enable them to:
• implement and manage the intervention programme to ensure maximum impact
• gain a greater in-depth understanding of the Spot On with Number resources to ensure they are used effectively to fully develop number sense
• understand the components of the lessons and how each contribute to the development of mathematical understanding.
Feedback on the Spot On with Numbers resources has only ever been positive. A small scale research project in the summer of 2021 found that children enjoyed playing with the pegs; finding different combinations for given amounts and this embedded an understanding of numbers within numbers, which underpins working fluently and flexibly with numbers. Another small scale trial of the Early Intervention Programme found that children on average made 12 months progress in 12 weeks.