News

Education Minister Leighton Andrews says he wants to change the view that being poor with numbers is acceptable. Results showed pupils in Wales are the equivalent of half an academic year behind others for mathematical literacy.

The National Numeracy Programme (NPP) will be launched on Wednesday and comes after a national literacy plan was unveiled in May. It has been developed after the Welsh government consulted with local and international academics specialising in numeracy as well as school improvement.

The NNP says more training will be provided for newly qualified teachers, including a new course, a Masters in Educational Practice. The programme drawn up for the Welsh government will be used by local authorities, headteachers and school governors.

The NNP says it will focus on four key areas:
• Enhancing numeracy across the curriculum
• Advancing teaching practice in numeracy
• Supporting learners quickly and successfully
• Communicating the power of numeracy.

The plan is to introduce the changes starting from next year with the aim to improve teaching standards and results and to identify more quickly children needing help to catch up.