New from the EEF

The EEF has just published a new guidance report offering five practical and evidence-based recommendations to improve maths for children aged 3 to 7 in the Early Years and Key Stage 1.

Recommendations include integrating maths into different activities throughout the day - for example, at registration and snack time - to familiarise children with maths language and make the most of the school day.

Read our 'Improving Mathematics in the Early Years and Key Stage 1' guidance report

It also highlights that story and picture books can be a powerful tool for engaging children with basic maths concepts, while board games (such as Snakes and Ladders) are particularly beneficial to developing understanding of numbers.

Based on the best available international research - and drawing on the expertise of teachers and academics - this report is packed with examples and case studies to support practitioners.

Read the 5 recommendations now

It is a companion to our earlier guidance report Improving Mathematics in Key Stages 2 and 3 - supporting the learning of 7 to 14 year olds.

Both sit alongside our other 12 EEF guidance reports - focused on (for example) Primary literacy, social and emotional learning, behaviour, parental engagement, and making best use of teaching assistants - which we hope offer you an actionable basis to support improved teaching and learning in your school.

As with all EEF guidance reports, publication is just the start. We will now be working with the Early Years and Primary sector, including colleagues in our national Research Schools Network, to build on the recommendations for improving early maths with further training and resources.

The next EEF guidance report is on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

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EEF’s other key resources:

1. How to spend your Pupil Premium effectively - essential reading, with evidence-informed principles to inform your school’s Pupil Premium strategy.
2. Our Early Years Toolkit and Teaching and Learning Toolkit provide accessible summaries of the international evidence on education, from Early Years through to Primary and Secondary school.
3. Promising Projects - 18 EEF-funded projects which have demonstrated promising findings when trialled.

These resources will enable those of you on the front-line to make a real difference to pupils’ learning.

If you would like to learn more about the EEF, or if you have any questions or comments about our work, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@eefoundation.org.uk.