When I was told I was going to be a ‘Maths Champion’, my first thought was ‘no, I’m not.’
I was fairly new to the school, working with two-year-old children. I was told I’d been signed up for the Maths Champion programme alongside the Nursery Teacher. Straight away, my view on maths was ‘I can’t do that’. I thought I’d never finish the programme – I was terrified of maths!
I just felt this programme was not for me, this was for people who know more about maths than me. But by the time I completed the training modules, I realised actually I was the perfect candidate for this programme.
Because it was there to train me, to give me more knowledge on early maths so I could be more confident in what experiences I provide for the young children and the families that I work with.
And I soon came to enjoy it more. My setting and my children were going to benefit from what I was doing which motivated me. That’s when I started to really enjoy it. I was starting to see changes in the setting, positive changes. It was really inspiring for the children.
Work with what you have
The changes that we made started simply. It was just me and one other member of staff I worked with.
At first, I thought how am I going to be able to teach her and coach her, when I don’t know myself? But we started by just putting our heads together, using the audits from the programme and bouncing ideas off each other. What can we change in our environment?
We started to dig deep in the cupboards. With us both being new, we weren’t even sure what was in there! And we made so much more of what we already had.
For example, we had some recycled coffee tins that we covered in coloured paper. We encouraged children to sort coloured cubes or pencils into the different coloured tins. That sort of thing is really cheap and easy to put in place, it doesn’t have to be fancy.
With things like that, we added more resources to the room that could be used to support maths. We can sit with children and use it for a specific purpose, but also it’s things that children can access and explore themselves and learn through trial and error.
Make maths part of everyday routines
The other thing we’ve done is to start talking more about maths in our everyday routines.
Like during tidying up, if we’re putting back together the play-food we might look at the cake and say ‘there’s one piece missing’ or ‘there’s two pieces left to find.’ Before the programme I wouldn’t think of doing maths at tidy up time. But it’s so simple.
Another example is the outdoor area. As part of Maths Champions programme, there was a webinar on outdoor learning. In the webinars there are examples of things you can do to support maths, and you can chat with other Champions about what they do.
And I remember one of the examples in the webinar was having things the children can jump over or stack outdoors to support their spatial reasoning skills. And I thought, ‘we’ve got a pile of logs sitting in the corner of the garden doing nothing’. So we set them out for children to access. We also made an abacus on the fence from some plastic balls and some washing line.
Doing the Maths Champions programme gives you ideas, and an opportunity to share and learn from others. It was a really nice network to be part of.
Make maths part of everyday routines
A key part of the Maths Champion programme for me was realising what children should be able to do at two-years-old. One example was looking at 1 – 3 objects and telling you how many there are, not counting, but instantly knowing. This is called subitising, before the Maths Champions programme I had never even heard the word subitising!
Now I’m aware that’s what I should be supporting, I can see this when I’m with the children as we play little games, and I encourage them to say what they see. Part of the game is modelling language for them to think about it and work it out. ‘There’s one crayon here, and one crayon there – that’s two crayons altogether’
These are things I wouldn’t even have recognised as maths before the Maths Champions training.
Go for it!
Anybody who is thinking about the programme or just being told about the programme and thinks that it’s not for them, it absolutely is for you. Go for it!
I got so much out of the programme. I had no confidence in maths, but I also thought I knew what I needed to teach 2‑year-olds – ‘count to three, know simple shapes, I don’t need to do any more than that.’
But actually, Maths Champions really teaches you how to explore maths more deeply. It’s all stuff you might not even realise. But to be able to see what the children, the staff, the families, and the setting are getting out of it – it really puts it into perspective.
I went into the programme really nervous. I was ready to go to the Head Teacher and say ‘I can’t do this’. And then I came out of the programme and I felt like ‘I am a maths champion’. And this is just the start!
Nurseries and schools can take part in Maths Champions, delivered by the National Day Nurseries Association, at no cost. There are cohorts starting delivery in February, March, April, May, and June 2026. Sign up to secure your place.