Barnstaple Schools Benefit from Maths and Reading Training for Teacher

Primary School teacher Maggie Keene from Sticklepath School and Judy Grimwood from Orchard Vale in Barnstaple are among twenty four dedicated teachers who have been presented with new

qualifications to help children in Devon schools who have most

difficulties with maths and reading.

Maggie Keene was one of twelve teachers who were

presented with their accreditation for the Numbers Count programme and

Judy Grimwood was one of twelve receiving Reading Recovery qualifications after

intensive training programmes.

The presentations were made by

Devon’s Director of Learning and Schools, Judith Johnson, at a special

ceremony at the Tiverton Hotel.

She praised the teachers for their hard work and dedication through a very demanding year of training.

“These initiatives really make a difference and change children’s lives,” she said.

“They are time intensive and resource intensive but not as expensive as a child’s wasted life.”

There

are already 18 Devon primary schools operating the Numbers Count

programme, which is part of the national Every Child Counts initiative.

In the last two years, 256 Devon

children have taken part in the scheme in Year 2 of primary school.

They made an average of 14 months’ progress after just 20 hours of

teaching – four times the normal rate of progress.

85 per cent

of the Devon children went on to achieve nationally expected levels in

maths in the tests for seven-year-olds. None of them were predicted to

do so by their teachers before taking part in the programme.

Reading

Recovery is part of the national Every Child a Reader programme which

children take at the end of the first year of school. In addition to

their normal classroom instruction, they also have daily individual

teaching.

In Devon, 200 children were supported in 26 schools this

year. In the 2010/11 academic year that will be closer to 300 children

with another 14 schools joining the programme.

Evidence shows more

than 90 per cent of children, who were unable to read even the simplest

published books and able to write only a few letters or words, reach

national expectations in around 20 weeks.