The Public Accounts Committee has just disclosed that there are an “unacceptably high” number of people in England who cannot read, write or count properly – and this is right across the board, from schoolchildren to adults of all ages. It concludes that anyone who believes the Government will meet its 95 per cent adult literacy and numeracy target by 2020 is “living in cloud cuckooland”. In the first of two reports, the Gazette looks at how those Essex schoolchildren who fall behind in the three Rs don’t stay behind.

Numbers can be Shakespearean.

Just look at 92 million, the distance in miles from the sun to the Earth. All that way, and you can still feel the heat on your back – now, how Shakespearean is that?

“That’s what mathematics is all about – passion,” declared Fran Johnson.

“There isn’t enough passion in maths – and there should be, because maths is so important in everything we do.

“And this apology about not being good at maths – that is ridiculous. Taught the correct way, and we can all do maths. Shrugging and saying ‘I can’t do it’ is so very British, don’t you think?”

Ms Johnson is Essex County Council’s senior primary maths consultant. It is her job to ensure all children get a good grounding in mathematics but, more importantly, to understand what maths is all about.

So, what is maths all about? Mathematics stretches from simple addition to calculus. Surely we are not talking about the study of the infinite?

“We are talking about basic maths – addition, subtraction, multiplication and division – problem-solving, reasoning and communication,” she explained.

“As you can see, to be able to get into maths you have got to have literacy skills, too. In learning, everything is interlinked.”

She is not fazed by the Public Accounts Committee report which states that “too many” children and adults cannot read and have problems with numeracy.

Numeracy, though, is not the term Ms Johnson would use. Too political. It’s mathematics and, according to the latest statistics for 11-year-olds (key stage 2) and 14-year-olds (key stage 3), there is ongoing improvement – 78 per cent of all those children hit the maths target.

“Essex is not among the highest (counties) – but it is certainly not among the lowest,” she said. “We are above average.”

She does not think the UK has a worse problem than in previous decades, as has been suggested. Neither does Marilyn Miners, in charge of the county council’s literary strategy.

“In my view, literacy is no worse now than in the 1960s,” she insisted.

“Accountability is much higher today than ever before – each child’s progress is monitored and it is very difficult to fall through the net.

“In the 1960s, that just didn’t happen, and any literacy and numeracy problems were either ignored or went undetected.”

A change in how children were taught to read and write in the 1970s had a knock-on effect which might even be playing out today.

The advent of the Initial Teaching Alphabet (ITA) in primary schools – children were taught an alphabet with 44 symbols, each representing a single sound – was heralded as the way forward, especially as imagination was put way above those bedrocks of communication, punctuation and syntax.

Trouble was, those children had trouble converting from ITA to standard English.

Now those children are parents. Some have literacy problems – and so might their children.

“Grammar is being taught in schools, but perhaps less rigidly than previously,” Ms Miners pointed out.

“Children are taught sentence structure and encouraged to be creative, but being able to read and write have got to come first.”

She admits there are “pockets of kids” in Essex who just don’t get on with school and, consequently, learning.

“That can affect their ability to read and write – but I do believe the situation is getting better. Certainly, in Essex, standards continue to rise in reading, writing and mathematics. You have just got to make the subjects interesting.”

And passionate. Don’t forget the passion.

  •  Tomorrow - how north Essex is tackling adult literacy and numeracy problems.

HELPING WITH THE THREE 'R'S

Working with primary schools and nurseries, Essex County Council has put into place:

  • Language and literacy development for three to five-year-olds – “exciting” children with language and instilling a knowledge of phonics
  • Reading Recovery teachers for six to seven-year-olds – one-on-one support for children who have not reached the required reading level
  • Literacy support programme for eight to nine-year-olds – one-on-one tuition for children who have fallen behind in their literacy skills

  • GETTING INTO MATHS

    Essex has 20 mathematics consultants who support individual primary and secondary schools across the county by:
  • Ensuring continuing performance development of all children in mathematics
  • Improving teaching skills in maths.

SUPPORT FOR 'INVISIBLE' CHILDREN

  • Essex is one of ten county councils in England and Wales taking part in the pilot for the Government’s Making Good Progess scheme.
  • This is aimed at the “invisible” children, children of all ages who still have difficulty with reading, writing or mathematics when all other strategies have failed
  • 80 Essex schools are in the pilot.
  • The pilot began in September, 2007, and ends this July. Making Good Progress will start to roll out to other schools in April.