- The heartbreak: ‘too many students, without the numeracy skills they need.’
- The mission: ‘for children to gain a sound foundation in core numeracy skills.’
- The answer (part of!): ‘a numeracy pathway and investment in teachers.’
At Winning With Numbers we are aligned to this report and agree that a numeracy pathway and investment in teachers is key.
A Numeracy Pathway
Becoming numerate parallels learning to read. Both depend on a body of foundational knowledge that all children must acquire early. Phonics underpins future success in English; essential number fluency underpins future success in mathematics. These are the first academic priorities of primary schools.
The structure or ‘pathway’ of number fluency is simpler and more transparent than phonics. Number fluency develops through clear, timeless dependencies. New number fluency always depends on secure prior fluency.
This inherent simplicity makes it all the more obvious that ‘numeracy for life’ should not still be an ‘unresolved issue’. The early ‘pathways’ of number fluency form a predictable, repeatable process — a process every child should be taken through, just as they are taken through phonics. The sequencing of essential number fluency is more identifiable, more systemisable and more scalable than phonics.
Investment in Teachers
As the report states, we need to invest in teachers to deliver this numeracy pathway effectively. Just like all schools do for teachers delivering the phonics curriculum.
A numeracy pathway produces a repeatable, definable, system for schools to implement. The identification of this content as a stand-alone program (like phonics) also advances schools in their pedagogical approach to number fluency in, at minimum, the following ways:
- Pedagogical Differentiation: Here, teaching is characterised by, i) building on pre-requisite fluency, ii) in the smallest of steps, iii) through explicit and direct instruction (with high modelling and scaffolding for all students). Note the similarity to teaching phonics that holds. This isn’t because numbers are like sounds, rather it stems from the parallel that background knowledge is key, and that pieces of background knowledge are assembled by the teacher in a pre-agreed and repeatable fashion, i.e. it is expert to novice transmission of information.
- Systemising Cognitive Load Theory: John Sweller’s Cognitive Load Theory is taught with minimum intrinsic cognitive demand, and an absence of external load. New learning is built by blending secure prior knowledge—for example, adding two‑digit numbers relies on instant recall of tens, ones and combining totals fluently. This step‑by‑step build mirrors phonics: existing knowledge is blended to create new knowledge, forming a coherent progression that both secures key skills and enables future learning.
- Atomisation of Sequencing: The systemisation of curriculum content can leave no gaps. This requires a detail to the acquisition of new content that is so narrow in progression, it becomes difficult for students who are engaging with the teaching not to progress. This level of detail is necessary for essential number fluency. This atomised detail, when combined with strong teaching tools rooted in evidence from cognitive science research, brings a new quality of teaching into the program itself. The gap from intent to implementation is brought together.
- Essential Number Fluency Pedagogy and Outcomes Dictate Essential Number Fluency Content: ‘Fluency’ takes on different meanings for different people. In mathematics, fluency can mean the ability to choose an appropriate method for a given problem, or it can mean working through several steps of a solution with a degree of speed. ‘Essential Number Fluency’ has a distinct title that relates to the central and basic number content where the learning outcome requires a reduced amount of thoughts (no more than three steps of cognitive processing) for simple number ‘questions’ where the learner should clearly respond without hesitation or error. Such outcomes would include recalling number facts and applying facts to place value units.
- CLT System Success = Confidence!: When we, as teachers, get this CLT-aligned construction of new knowledge correct, and present the atomised progressive teaching point with direct and explicit teaching input, the learner is entering into a ‘failure-free’ learning experience. A child that constantly (daily) comes to new content through a system built on CLT success, will naturally see themselves as ‘winning with numbers’, not because we have urged them to believe ‘maths is easy’ but because experientially that is what they see.
The mission: ‘for children to gain a sound foundation in core numeracy skills’
The answer (part of!): ‘a numeracy pathway and investment in teachers’
Making it count…all children and teachers Winning With Numbers!
