The Maths For Life programme has been developed with a parent in mind and it tries to explain terms as simply as possible.  The more confident you are, the more confident you will be helping your child.  The books are the educator guide, an insightful reference tool that will take you little step by little step along the programme. The subscription membership provides you with access to the comprehensive resource library and the Maths For Life community forum.

There are no time scales associated with the learning in this programme as all children and young adults are different and, just like physical and development milestones, they will attain the maths milestones on their own path.  But it is a path and this document explains the way. 

The differentiated approach is designed for individuals with additional learning needs for whom the standard maths curriculum structure and timescale is unattainable.  This approach is based on securing understanding and functional application of a skill on an incremental and independent basis before moving to the next stage.  For some individuals, Book 1 will contain most of the maths learning that they will cover from birth, through primary and into secondary level education.   Others may progress quicker, securing the maths milestones and moving forward to the higher levels of the programme.  The Record of Progress at each stage will allow you to assess, review attainment and progress over time.

Maths is more than just adding and subtracting and memorising times tables.  Maths should be part of everyday life.  The important ‘maths for life’ is all around us and your job as a parent is to ensure you help set solid foundations for your child.  You can make a different long before your child starts formal education.  The Foundations stage Topic 0 - the prenumber skills focuses on learning from birth.  As parents you need to work with the school, teacher and teaching / learning skills assistant to ensure that all the building blocks are in place. 

Although the Maths For Life programme was born out of a specific project to address the needs of students with Down syndrome, it has been recognised and evidenced as applicable to all individuals with additional learning needs. 

Oxfordshire County Council were impressed by the results of a parent-led Maths For Life pilot commissioned by and involving students from the Oxfordshire charity, Down’s Syndrome Oxford.  Given the effectiveness of the programme for students with Down syndrome, the Head of SEND at the council asked the question, “Will the Maths For Life programme work for all students with SEND?”.  The conclusion of the 2023/24 academic year pilot study sponsored by council was a resounding ”Yes” - 93% of students increased their overall maths attainment.  The results of the pilot provide compelling evidence of how the Maths For Life programme can benefit a wide range of students with SEND and the staff supporting them.  The pilot report, available here, details the positive impact not only on maths attainment, but also in the wider context, including independence, self-esteem and reading.

“The launch event generated much excitement countywide for what the programme might achieve and, through dedication from schools and incredible support from the Maths For Life team, the pilot has exceeded expectations.” - Nicky Ashby-Guest, Oxfordshire County Council

30% of the Oxfordshire County Council pilot population were autistic students.  The results demonstrate that autistic students improved more in overall average attainment than the overall sample population.  Staff supporting these students identified that 81% of them improved their engagement in learning maths. 

“I am the Lead teacher for Maths in our SEN school across ages 5-16. Our school is mixed SEN needs and many of our children are autistic. I also have a MEd in Autism, so maths and autism are my areas of knowledge.  I have found the Maths For Life programme to be very successful and we have been using it for a couple of years with all of our children. In my own class, I find my autistic students love the predictability of the worksheets and style of questions.  This has helped them to become more independent with their work, knowing what they need to do.” - Jana-liss Richardson, Maths Lead, Ellesmere College

The Maths For Life programme can benefit all students, with or without an additional learning need, who struggle with maths, improving their self-esteem, encouraging independence and increasing their potential to achieve gainful employment.

And, via the subscription based membership, the programme provides a series of comprehensive workbooks by topic, templates and other resources to offer a variety of ways to repeat the same skill - providing repetition whilst still engaging the student.  During term time there is a Weekly General Workbook published for all levels containing 10 general / across topic questions. All resources are designed with saving time and effort in mind. 

A topic workbook may contain upwards of 40 individual worksheets that start with ‘easy to try’ and work through all options to ‘secured’ in that topic. They are colourful and engaging pdfs that can be viewed on a computer / interactive board or printed in colour or black and white.  Most workbooks have also got an ‘Eco Ink’ version available to keep printing costs down. 

The workbooks also contain a diverse set of named characters that are age neutral - meaning that Zoe and Milly could be 6, 16 or 26 years old - allowing them to be accessed by older students without them feeling ‘babyish’. 

Content is varied and caters for a wide ranging audience.

I am Karen.  I love maths, always have, and I am on a mission to improve the image and attainment levels in maths for everyone… including my son Lance who as Down syndrome.  I believe that the Maths For Life programme delivers a differentiated approach to teaching maths that will provide my son with the essential maths he needs for life and hopefully more.

I am here to support you. I am available to help you get started on the programme; to answer your questions and to share videos of me and Lance (and sometimes Ella too) modelling teaching techniques, helpful hints and tips. I run a regular Q&A session via Zoom. These are group sessions that are open to parents, teachers, teaching assistants, SENCOs, Maths Lead, SLT, Educational professionals and anyone else who would like to find out more about the programme or ask a specific question related to ongoing use of the programme. You can check availability and book onto a session here. You can also request a brochure.

The Maths For Life programme is supported by a community who share ideas, welcome feedback and strive to improve attainment levels in maths for everyone. It is a work in progress. I am committed to developing this programme long term - for my son and for everyone else who deserves the ability to secure the maths skills they need for life.