The stated aim of this book is to help teacher-trainees prepare for the numeracy test all new entrants to the profession now have to pass. Any trainee worried about the test should find this a useful resource, although one to dip into rather than work through.

Comprising 62 “check-ups”, the contents are closely matched to those of the numeracy test. Given the book’s aim, this is an understandable structure, but it does lead to a rather fragmented view of maths. Anyone whose teaching brought them to believe that maths comprises a collection of separate rules rather than a rich network of connected ideas is likely to have that view reinforced. As in similar books by Derek Haylock, the mathematical content is written in a clear and accessible style.

My main concern is over the book’s title. “Numeracy for Teaching” promises more than “Numeracy to Pass the Qualified Teacher Status Test” would, but the content does not go far in that direction. For example, in the sections on mental multiplication strategies, the strategy dealt with at length involves doubling. Other strategies, such as partitioning a number or using factors, are touched on but not explained in detail. Such strategies are included in the National Numeracy Strategy Framework for Teaching Mathematics and are strategies which our research at King’s College indicates teachers have difficulty in both understanding and teaching. Unless you already understand the concepts behind these strategies, then Numeracy for Teaching is unlikely to fill in the gaps.

In his introduction, Derek Haylock points out that this is a book he wished he did not have to write and also that on a matter of principle it had not been submitted to the Teacher Training Agency for “kite-marking”. Given that the TTA was highly influential in the establishment of the QTS numeracy test, this does feel a little like trying to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

Mike Askew is reader in mathematics education at King’s College, London