Springboard 3: Catch-up programme for children in Year 3

Using the materials

The materials provide support for the topics being taught. Teachers will, however, need to take into account the responses of their children and help their teaching assistants to adjust the session according to the progress the children make. In particular, assistants will need help with developing appropriate lines of questioning for the group. While the materials provide a firm structure for teaching assistants to follow, individual children will not all be at the same level of attainment in all their mathematical work. Some will need more help and opportunities for consolidation in some areas than in others.

The video sequences
The eight video sequences show ways in which catch-up sessions can be tackled. They show how the material should be broken down into small steps and demonstrate appropriate lines of questioning. Each sequence is based on the same teaching objectives as the corresponding session in these materials. While the content is very similar, the video sessions have been slightly amended, where necessary, to meet the specific needs of the children being filmed. The National Numeracy Strategy is indebted to colleagues and children who made arrangements for, and took part in, the filming from Rose Hill First School and St John Fisher Catholic First School, Oxford, and from the Hamilton Oxford Schools Partnership.

A high degree of continuity can be achieved if teaching assistants are able to work with children identified for the Springboard programme in the DML. The assistants will know the children and have a good idea of their achievements and any difficulties they have encountered. The teacher will, however, still need to brief the assistant and ensure that the materials are adjusted to meet the needs of the children concerned, particularly in the light of the progress they make in the DML. Although the session notes are detailed, they cannot cater exactly for a specific group of children. Funding for the initiative should allow the assistant to spend time discussing the session notes with the teacher and mapping out exactly what is to be done and the best way to approach it.

Role of the teaching assistant
The teaching assistant will work with the children in the two sessions in exactly the same way as s/he often does with a group of about the same size in the main part of the DML. The assistant must not lecture the children, but involve them through questioning and practical demonstration. Although s/he introduces and explains the activity sheet, it should be completed at another time, when this is appropriate and fits in with the on-going work. This is because the sessions are essentially oral.

It is important that teachers reinforce progress children have made in the sessions with the teaching assistant. A good way to do this is for the assistant to make brief entries on the feedback sheet (see page 12) after each unit, ensuring that this information is recorded systematically.