SPOTLIGHT ON SEND Tackling maths anxiety


In her regular column for Education Today this month, independent Specialist Teacher and Assessor JOANNE GLADDERS looks at Maths Anxiety and how it affects students.


As part of my professional development, I have been researching Maths Anxiety and how it can manifest itself and affect different learners. There are a number of definitions for what


Maths Anxiety is. The Nuffield Foundation cite it as the following:


...is a debilitating emotional reaction to mathematics that is increasingly recognised in psychology and education. It has been defined as “a feeling of tensionand anxiety that interferes with the manipulation of numbers and the solving of mathematical problems in ordinary life and academic situations”. (Understanding mathematics anxiety | Nuffield Foundation)


Whichever definition practitioners select, Maths Anxiety is very real and manifests itself in different ways in different learners, no matter what age they are. As a practitioner, despite teaching maths for many years, Maths Anxiety is not a term I have encountered. I have however witnessed the signs and very real distress it has caused learners, but this has never been discussed at staff meetings or been the focus of professional development. Evidence of Maths Anxiety has been apparent for over 50 years; research and a determination to address the issue have only been evident in the last decade. A Maths Anxiety Summit was held in 2018 to discuss this issue and one of the key messages to come from the summit was: “Maths Anxiety is a genuine problem, which is complex and resistant to change.” Engaging with texts, research, podcasts and interviews has shown how


deep rooted Maths Anxiety is and how it affects a wide range of people, creating real difficulties in everyday life and in people’s experiences of subjects that have a mathematical element within them. This process has also enabled reflection on teaching and the learner’s experiences, particularly the relationship between working memory and maths anxiety. Steve Chinn (p.75 2020) cites “Thus, anxiety does not just block the willingness to learn, it can also reduce the capacity of one of the key sub- skills, working memory, needed to succeed.” Reflecting on my own practice, I considered a number of learners who I


supported who had identified Social Emotional and Mental Health Needs. They had great difficulty engaging in subjects involving Maths. At the time it was not obvious that they could have been showing signs of Maths Anxiety with the subtle behaviours that they displayed, often mistaking their anxiety with Maths as just another element of their other needs. In the Pearson Guide to Tackling Maths Anxiety (2021, p.5) Sue


Johnston-Walker’s definition of Maths Anxiety strikes a chord regarding the above learners. She states:


Maths Anxiety is not always obvious; it can sometimes be invisible and often unnoticed. It can manifest itself as poor behaviour, anger, frustration, avoidance, under-attainment and helplessness.


Have you witnessed Maths Anxiety manifest itself in any of your students regardless of what subject you teach? How can we address this in order to enable all learners to succeed?


References: Szucs, D. & McLellan, R. (2013). Understanding Mathematics Anxiety (Oct 2013 – Feb 2019). Accessed online 17th August 2021 at: https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/project/understanding-mathematics-anxiety Chinn, S. (2020). More Trouble with Maths: A Complete Manual to Identifying and


Diagnosing Mathematical Difficulties (3rd ed.) Routledge The Maths Anxiety Trust (2018) ‘Maths Anxiety Summit 2018’ Summit Report and


key messages, August 2018, p5 Power of Maths Roundtable (2021) a Guide to Tackling Maths Anxiety. Pearson.


Accessed online 16th August 2021 at: https://www.pearson.com/content/dam/one- dot-com/one-dot-com/uk/documents/subjects/mathematics/guide-to-tackling-maths- anxiety-power-maths-report.pdf


September 2021 Teaching reading to


children with ASD This month, we’re delighted to welcome HANNAH RIX as a regular contributor to Spotlight on SEND. Hannah is a SEND English teacher who has taught in both secondary and SEND schools for over eight years. She is also the co-founder of Readingmate Ltd, producer of the Readingmate app – a free resource designed to help parents develop their children’s love of reading. Find out more at readingmate.co.uk. In her first column for us, this month she looks at autism and offers advice on how to teach reading to children with ASD.


The National Autistic Society defines autism as ‘a lifelong development disability which affects how people communicate and interact with the world’. In the UK there are around 700,000 adults and children with autism and one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum. With the average secondary school having over 900 pupils and primary schools with nearly 300 (figures rising annually), this means every school will have (at the very least) one child on the autism spectrum attending their school. The ability to read is the route to all learning. So, how do we ensure


that children with autism can properly access the curriculum? Autism presents itself in a multitude of ways (especially when it comes to learning) and there are many misconceptions about autism, one being that it impacts a child’s ability to learn. Whereas in most cases it really affects how a child learns. People with autism struggle to learn in a ‘traditional’ way as they’re


unable to process information in the same way others do. Equally, no two children with autism will learn using the identical methods. Unsurprisingly, there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy to implement and


the best place to start is by getting to know the individual. What do they like? What upsets them? What interests them? What kind of activities do they enjoy? Do their parents recommend any strategies? Gathering this information will unlock more avenues for future learning opportunities. Without understanding the whole student, it’s almost impossible to support their learning and therefore their reading. Once you’ve got a grasp on their preferred learning styles (visual,


auditory, kinaesthetic etc.), you can provide visual aids, sensory toys and noise free environments whilst reading. You could use magnetic letters, sand boxes, letter tracing on textured surfaces for kinaesthetic and visual learners. To support students’ understanding of sequencing and the differences between certain sounds, allow plenty of time for them to process each one individually to avoid them feeling overwhelmed. Chunk each new skill into very simple steps and place them in a


logical order. This allows students to fully comprehend what they’ve learned and will increase the chances of them retaining this knowledge. Children with autism can feel distressed if they’re given too much information so ensure you gauge the student’s feelings throughout the task. Understanding figurative language and abstract ideas is hard for


children with autism. Providing students with visual prompts with examples and simple explanations of these concepts can support their comprehension. This really is just a snapshot of approaches to use as autism is


extremely diverse. However, applying these throughout the curriculum (not just when teaching reading) will significantly improve their education overall. Ultimately, at the heart of all learning experiences should be the


student. Regardless of how visual, sensory or engaging your resources are, if they don’t cater exactly to the needs and preferences of the student, the child’s engagement will nose-dive, and learning will be missed.


Kate Sarginson is on maternity leave. www.education-today.co.uk 19


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