Developing the programme

Every Child Counts has three phases:

• research (academic year 2007/08);
• development (2008/09 and 2009/10) and
• national roll-out (2010/11 onwards)

Research phase (2007/8)
The first phase of the initiative (2007/8) ran alongside, informed and was informed by the Williams review of the teaching of primary mathematics. Between September and December 2007 information was gathered through visits to different intervention programmes that are currently in place in local authorities. This  provided a baseline for further activity by summarising:

• the programmes/approaches in use;
• their training and support infrastructures and
• evidence of their impact on children’s learning and progress.

Between January and July 2008, these existing models of intervention support were extended to new local authority areas in order to identify impact and draw out the essential features the national programme should incorporate to ensure success.

1. The five local authorities involved were Birmingham, Kent, Middlesbrough, Norfolk and Southwark. Ten schools were involved in each area. Additional small-scale work in Hackney  tested out the impact of different periods of intensive support teaching. Information from the work in these authorities and schools  informed the recommendations made in Chapter 4 of the Williams Report:  Independent Review of mathematics teaching in Early Years settings and primary schools:
   Independent Review of mathematics teaching in Early Years settings and primary schools (Link to external PDF, opens in new window)

Chapter 4 of this report, published in late June, addresses remit 3 from the Secretary of State to the review panel: ‘The review should specifically make recommendations to inform the development of an early intervention programme for children (age five to seven) who are failing to master the basics of numeracy – Every Child Counts – as recently announced by the Prime Minister.’

The content and recommendations of this section of the report reflect the findings of the ECC research phase as well as evidence given by providers and field visits by the panel to observe a wide range of intervention practice in schools. It is noted that some schemes have been developed by local authorities and others by commercial organisations and that they differ in their reliance on a theoretical basis. It is emphasised that ‘the recommendations of the report are to be seen in educational terms and do not constitute an endorsement of any specific products or services.’ The panel did not consider that any single scheme exhibited all the features associated with a successful intervention and therefore, drawing on the review panel’s observations and also evidence submitted to the review asked that development of Every Child Counts (and particularly the intensive support element) should take account of the following essential features:

Recommendation 8: Intervention The programme for intensive wave 3 intervention in ‘Every Child Counts’ should be based on the following characteristics: (i) It should be led by a qualified teacher and should generally involve one child (ii) However, the development phase of Every Child Counts should give adequate attention to assessing the benefits of small group working, particularly in pairs (iii) In assessing the child for intervention, the teacher with direct contact with the child must take the lead in shaping the decision to intervene; the use of video techniques in this and in training should be investigated further (iv) Appropriate diagnostic tools should be developed to assist in assessment and in measuring progress on exit from intervention (v) Intervention in mathematics should be complete by the end of Key Stage 1; where a child needs intervention in both literacy and numeracy, both must be given equal priority over the course of Key Stage 1 (vi) A wide range of multi-sensory resources should be available to enable the child and the intervention specialist to select those appropriate to the specific circumstances (vii) CPD programmes should be developed for both the intervention specialist and the LA intervention teacher leader (viii) Consideration should be given to combining the roles of intervention specialist and Mathematics Specialist, depending on the size and circumstances of the school (ix) Less intensive wave 3 and wave 2 interventions could be led by appropriately trained Teaching Assistants; consideration should be given to the training required and the use of interventions, with a robust evidence base of impact on learning and progress (x) A longitudinal study should be commissioned to assess the long term benefits of intervention both at Key Stage 2 and, eventually, at GCSE level

For further information about the outcomes of the Research Phase, see the reports posted in the LA section of this website.

In accordance with the steer from the Williams Report and the findings of the research phase, Edge Hill University, working in partnership with Lancashire Local Authority, has taken the lead in developing the intensive intervention Numbers Count

 The overall design is for a 12 week programme, consisting of daily 30 minute sessions for the target children and delivered by the trained ECC teachers. The core elements comprise a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of the child’s strengths and weaknesses, the setting out of the core learning objectives for the lessons and guidance for teachers on lesson structure and key teaching approaches.

 The key areas of mathematics to be covered include:

• Number and numeral recognition using the vocabulary of number – number words and connectives (before, more than etc)
• Counting forward and back
• Counting in ones, twos and tens
• Mathematical vocabulary, use of language and pronunciation
• Understanding place value to partition and recombine numbers when calculating
• Ordering, sequencing and comparing by size
• Number bonds, addition and subtraction
• Arranging and rearranging to identify conservation of number and to begin to recognise patterns and relationships
• Practical examples of halving and doubling to identify inverse relationships
• Grouping and sharing to inform early understanding of multiplication and division
• Money including the use of real coins
• Problem solving in everyday contexts.

Edge Hill has also put in place the national infrastructure of training, support and quality assurance required for implementation of the programme in local authorities and schools. National Trainers from Edge Hill University have begun the process of providing Continuing Professional Development for the local authority consultants leading on the programme (‘Teacher Leaders’), as well as, in 2008-9, for the schools involved.

The 22 Teacher Leaders in post for 2008-9 have come from a range of backgrounds. The majority have been numeracy consultants and have Key Stage 1 experience; others come direct from schools, having been Leading Mathematics Teachers or Advanced Skills Teachers or are from a local authority inclusion service background. In addition to the Professional Development intrinsic to their local authority role, the Teacher Leaders are following Edge Hill University’s Masters level course in early mathematics and mathematical difficulties. This course involves a teaching commitment as well as study and visits, and is completed over two to three years.  Individual teachers delivering the Numbers Count programme are also eligible to study for the MA. http://www.edgehill.ac.uk/everychildcounts (Link to external website, opens in new window)

Development phase (2008/10)
In 2008/9 and 2009/10 the intensive Numbers Count intervention will be used in a growing number of clusters of local authorities to prepare for nationwide roll-out. Over 2,500 children received intensive teaching in the first year of the development phase and over 11,400 are expected to take part in 2009-10.
There will be an independent evaluation by the Universities of York and Durham over this period and further refinements will be made to the approach. Appropriate teaching assistant interventions for children whose needs are not so great will be identified, to run alongside the intensive teacher-led intervention and be supported by the skilled teacher. In order to inform this development, Dr Ann Dowker of Oxford University was commissioned to undertake an update to her 2004 review What works for children with mathematical difficulties.  Her updated review can be found in the local authority support section of this website.

In 2009/10 the Teacher Leaders of the local authorities involved in 2008/9 are each training 24 teachers from schools in their own and, in many cases, neighbouring authorities (in the local authority consortia managing the Every Child a Reader programme), whilst completing their Masters through a dissertation based on research in the field. Meanwhile, a further 45 Teacher Leaders will undertake their training as they prepare to lead implementation in their local authorities/consortia and schools.

Roll-out (2010/11)
In 2010/11 the programme will roll out to a further 42 local authorities/consortia, bringing the total number of Teacher Leaders to 84 and the total number of schools involved to 1600. The design of the programme overall will enable 30,000 children will be reached in this first year of national implementation.