Counting Collections

Published: 4 May 2023

An early maths programme is being trialled by the Education Endowment Foundation to find how much additional learning it provides for Reception children in their understanding of number. The EEF are only offering the trial in a small number of areas, including Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Derby and Derbyshire. The programme supports Reception class teachers to use Counting Collections with Reception children. This involves children engaging in a short, weekly ‘hands on’ sessions with boxes of interesting objects to count. The children can also access the ‘counting library’ (boxes of objects) during play. Professional development, led by Cath Gripton from the University of Nottingham, is provided for the Reception teachers as well as a full set of resources for the classroom. Schools who sign up are randomly selected to either receive the programme (plus counting resources and £200 for taking part) or not receive the programme (with £500 for taking part). Schools can find out more and sign up on the Counting Collections or EEF websites.

For more information contact Catherine Gripton at countingcollections@nottingham.ac.uk