Ancrum Primary School

We’ve been using 123maths since August 2013 and have a 10 user licence. The children who have worked with 123maths have hugely grown in confidence and that their basic understanding of number has dramatically improved. This has been as a result of rigorous assessment and planning by staff, through working with children and their parents so that they understand where they are in their learning, the difficulties they face and ways to overcome these and their next steps in their learning. 123maths is used as an added and much needed boost to these children who thoroughly enjoy the extra time and support they receive. They find using the computer has been an enjoyable and interesting way to reinforce key concepts. The fact that the children have to complete an activity 3 times before moving on is also superb as this checks the learning is embedded. I have seen the impact of 123maths in the classroom and we have seen children doing 123maths transfer their learning into classwork which shows the learning is embedded. Having taught the children using 123maths for 4 years I can vouch for its positive impact and will happily use it next session with those children requiring reinforcement. I think the 123maths programme is a superb way of reinforcing key learning in number. However, it cannot and should not replace the role of the teacher who should use the information collected to ensure better and more solid teaching. We did find the section on negative numbers was misplaced as children having difficulty with number would not normally experience this concept so early on. I did use the assessments and found them very useful. At a glance we were able to pick out any areas of concern and address these quickly. I have also found that working 1:1 with the pupils is the key to success. When I have worked with the pupils I have been able to identify a misconception, address it there and then or build it onto my planning over subsequent maths lessons , as appropriate. And discussing the progress daily with our Additional Needs Auxiliary is also essential to the success.