CHILDREN as young as six are expected to count reliably up to 20 under the national numeracy strategy. Whether government officials can is now the subject of an inquiry called Spotgate, writes Helen Ward.
Latest maths plans sent out to schools have prompted mirth. For beneath the stark heading Twenty Spots, the NNS team had provided a neat grid measuring five spots by five.
The error on the grid, used in Year 4 to help children practise finding complements for 20, has now been rectified and notices have been posted on the Department for Education and Skills website.
Mistakes have also been spotted on the department’s Year 7 spelling bank which listed ‘autopsy’ alongside ‘autobiography’ as an example of the use of the prefix ‘auto’ to denote things done by oneself.
Research reports,16
