A 'positive' approach to supporting a pupil with Down syndrome during 'dedicated numeracy time'?

This exploratory study has been designed to consider how mainstream staff can most effectively support pupils with Down syndrome in numeracy. The study is partly based on the work of Wishart (1996, 2001), looking at motivation and learning styles in young children with Down syndrome. An individual case study was carried out during 'dedicated numeracy time', a central part of the National Numeracy Strategy framework, in a reception class. Background information was collected from the educational records of the pupil, initial unstructured observations and semi-structured interviews with the class teacher and Learning Support Assistant. Structured observations were carried out across individual, group and whole class settings. The findings, from this single case study, revealed that, contrary to the expectations of staff, the pupil demonstrated less inappropriate behaviour in the whole class setting, in comparison to individual and group settings. However, the pupil was more successful in his independent attempts at tasks in individual and group settings, in comparison with the whole class setting. The report concludes that it is important to provide pupils with appropriate support to avoid failure, particularly during the early stages of learning. It also recommends that the pupil is able to work within the mainstream classroom and participate, with the appropriate support, in the whole class 'mentral maths' session and plenary on a more regular basis. This is a small-scale study and the findings tentative. It does however indicate the need for further research in this area.