Under the Maths Champions project, which is in its third year, senior nursery staff receive training to build the confidence and numeracy skills of their colleagues with the aim of improving children’s outcomes through maths. It is supported by the Department for Education.
In 2014/15, a total of 91 Maths Champions signed up to the project and 469 practitioners were supported with maths.
To determine whether the project is successful in developing early numeracy skills in disadvantaged three- and four-year-olds in particular, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has announced a new trial it is to test its impact across 120 nurseries in England.
The trial will start from next May following recruitment of the nurseries. Those interested in taking part should contact the EEF or National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA).
The results will be published in late 2017 and used to inform the EEF’s Early Years Toolkit, a summary of research on education.
Sir Kevan Collins, chief executive of the Education Endowment Foundation, said, ‘We know that a good early years education is likely have a positive effect on a child’s later academic success yet we know very little about the best ways to improve outcomes for three- and four-year-olds, especially those from poorer homes. Our trial of Maths Champions will provide nursery and pre-school staff with much-needed evidence on how they can do this most effectively.’
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA), said, ‘We are delighted that the benefits of our Maths Champions programme will be identified and evaluated during this trial.
‘We have put the programme through external evaluation before but the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) will utilise highly sophisticated tools to give us a more accurate and insightful picture than ever.
‘Feedback from the EEF will help us to take the programme to the next level in achieving best possible outcomes for pre-school children that will stand them in really good stead for their future education.’
