Children will develop good literacy and numeracy skills if those abilities are fostered in a consistent way from
early childhood to the end of second-level education. Early childhood, the period from birth to six years of age, is a time of significant opportunity for learning. During these early years, children take their first steps along their journey of lifelong learning. They have an inherent capacity to learn from birth and the experiences they have in their homes and wider environment impact significantly on their development and future learning. Early experiences that support the development of children’s communication skills (such as their awareness of verbal and non-verbal communication; their knowledge of sound, pattern, rhythm and repetition; their awareness of symbols such as print and pictures; the opportunities that they have to become familiar with and enjoy print in a meaningful way; and the opportunities that they have to use mark-making materials) play a key role in the development of their literacy skills. Their awareness of materials, shape, space, pattern and difference, classifying, matching, comparing and ordering are important for the development of numeracy.
The knowledge, skills, attitudes and dispositions developed in these early years impact significantly upon their later learning experiences. This learning progresses in the primary school. Vital aspects of the child’s skillsets in literacy and numeracy skills continue to develop during the entire period of second-level education but especially during the junior cycle, when students encounter texts in new subjects for the first time. During the primary school years, critical early skills need to be developed within a broad, balanced and enjoyable curricular experience. These literacy and numeracy skills have to be carefully consolidated and developed throughout the junior and senior cycles in post-primary schools and in centres for education. There may be a mistaken belief that the development of young people’s literacy and numeracy skills should be completed by the end of primary school: this is not the case. We know, in fact, that there will be considerable variation in the level of skills acquired by twelve-year-olds. Some children will have mastered basic literacy skills by the age of twelve years, but many will still be developing these skills. All children of this age will require well-thought-out teaching and purposeful learning experiences in the post-primary school to enable them to acquire the skills they have yet to grasp, to consolidate the skills they have already learned, and to equip them for work, further learning and leisure.
Just as children develop literacy skills at different rates, their development of mathematical understanding also
varies. We need to ensure that the teaching of numeracy in the post-primary school builds upon the learning
that children have acquired in the primary school years, so that over the course of compulsory education, they master the essential ability to understand and use mathematics in every-day life and in further learning. It is also important for us to remember that the development of children’s literacy and numeracy skills in post primary schools is not just the responsibility of teachers of languages and mathematics. Teachers of all post primary subjects have an important role to play in developing and consolidating students’ ability to use literacy and numeracy.
Continuity in the learning experience is of critical importance in the child’s development from early childhood
through to the completion of post-primary education. This can only happen for learners if we ensure that there is a seamless transition for them at each point of change in the education system. Procedures between the various education providers should ensure that relevant information transfers at each juncture to facilitate
continuity and progression for the child.
We are embarking on this literacy and numeracy strategy at a time when our economic circumstances are extremely difficult. We know that additional resources will simply not be available to us as we seek to bring about very significant change. However, making sure that every child and young person gets the opportunity to acquire literacy and numeracy skills is simply too important for us not to act now. In fact, making sure that our children and young people have world-class literacy and numeracy skills will be essential for the rebuilding of our economic prosperity and ensuring the well-being of our society.
This means that difficult choices have to be made. We will have to ensure the most efficient use possible of available resources and in many instances re-prioritise spending away from desirable but ultimately less important activities to enable us to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of the children and young people in our care.
We have to set out ambitious targets to improve standards in literacy and numeracy among our children and young people. We also set out in broad terms the actions that we believe will be necessary to achieve the improvements that we seek. Achieving these targets will require sustained effort and focus across each part of the education system at early childhood, primary and post-primary levels; in teacher education and professional development; in work-skill development for adults working in the early childhood sector; in curriculum and assessment; and in evaluation and quality assurance systems. It will also require the commitment of other government departments and bodies supporting families and communities.
Being clear about what we want to achieve is essential if we are to succeed in tackling the problems that we
face in literacy and numeracy. We will aim to:
Improve our attitudes to literacy and numeracy
• Promote better understanding of the critical importance of supporting the development of children’s ability to become effective communicators from their earliest years and the key role played by parents, families and communities in this regard
• Raise public awareness of the importance of oral and written language in all its forms (including print, writing and digital media)
• Foster an enjoyment of reading among children and young people
• Create greater awareness of, and more positive attitudes towards, mathematics among the public
• Promote better attitudes to mathematics among children and young people
Improve outcomes at early childhood level
• Improve the communication and oral-language competence of young children in early childhood care and education (ECCE) settings and their readiness to develop early mathematical language and ideas Improve outcomes at primary school level
• Ensure that each primary school sets goals and monitors progress in achieving demanding but realistic targets for the improvement of the literacy and numeracy skills of its students in a school improvement plan
• Increase the percentages of primary children performing at Level 3 or higher (i.e. at the highest levels) in the National Assessment of Mathematics and English Reading by at least 5 percentage points.
• Reduce the percentage of children performing at or below Level 1 (i.e. minimum level) in the National Assessment of Mathematics and English Reading by at least 5 percentage points.
• Increase awareness of the importance of digital literacy and include assessments of primary students’ ability to read digital material as part of the national assessments of English reading.
Improve outcomes at post-primary level
• Ensure that each post-primary school sets goals and monitors progress in achieving demanding but realistic targets for the improvement of the literacy and numeracy skills of its students in a school improvement plan
• Extend the National Assessment of Mathematics and English Reading to assess the performance of students at the end of second year in post-primary education; use data from these assessments to establish the existing levels of achievement and to set realistic targets for improvement, similar to those adopted at the primary level
• Increase awareness of the importance of digital literacy and include assessments of post-primary students’ ability to read digital material as part of the national assessments of English reading
• Increase the percentage of 15-year old students performing at or above Level 4 (i.e. at the highest levels) in PISA reading literacy and numeracy tests by at least 5 percentage points.
• Halve the percentage of 15-year old students performing at or below Level 1 (the lowest level) in PISA reading literacy and numeracy tests.
• Increase the percentage of students taking the Higher Level mathematics examination at the end of junior cycle (i.e. Junior Certificate examination or its equivalent) to 60 per cent.
• Increase the percentage of students taking the Higher Level mathematics examination in Leaving Certificate to 30 per cent .
The support of parents who are engaged in their child’s learning has a significant positive impact on a child’s educational achievement, especially in literacy and numeracy. Young people achieve better when their parents take an active interest in their education, supporting and encouraging them and creating high but achievable expectations. Parental support for young children not only makes a real difference to their development but, in some circumstances mitigates the negative effects of low socio-economic status or low parental educational attainment.
The recognition that the family affords the best environment for children is one of the principles on which the
Strategy is to be based. This means that any external interventions should be designed to support and empower families from within communities. Literacy and Numeracy for Learning and Life has been drafted to integrate fully with this approach in the Children’s Strategy. Actions under both strategies will strongly support the delivery of better literacy and numeracy outcomes for children. The period from birth to three years is of crucial importance in the child’s physical, social, emotional, cognitive and linguistic development. The role of parents and families is critically important in these years, particularly in the development of children’s language and emergent literacy and numeracy skills. Partnership with parents and families plays a central role in nurturing this development and in laying the foundations for further learning in early childhood care and education (ECCE) settings and schools.
The communities in which children and young people live and grow also have a major role to play in fostering and supporting literacy and numeracy. Where schools are connected with each other and forge strong links with the wider community, there are better opportunities to share good practice and build supportive networks. Harnessing the collective effort of the wider community and other agencies has the potential to bring greater coherence and an integrated approach to the national effort to improve learning experiences and outcomes in literacy and numeracy. Schools and ECCE settings are at the heart of communities of learning where children and young people’s learning should be supported through empowering and assisting families and engaging with supports such as libraries, health services, family resource centers and adult and family literacy services. This is reinforced through the establishment of good networks of communication across schools and ECCE settings.
We have to be very clear about what we want children and young people to learn. The curriculum should define the knowledge, skills and attitudes that we expect children to acquire in school and ECCE settings and it should shape the learning experiences that we provide for young people.. The curriculum covers much more than literacy and numeracy of course, but the goals that we set for literacy and numeracy learning are a fundamental part of the range of learning experiences and outcomes that we seek to achieve for each child. Getting the curriculum right at each stage of the learner’s development and ensuring that the curriculum is implemented as effectively as possible are essential if we are to ensure that children and young people acquire the literacy and numeracy skills that they need as students and adults.
All learners should have an opportunity to engage in a broad, balanced and fulfilling curricular experience that
supports all aspects of their development – not just the academic dimension but the social, emotional, imaginative, aesthetic, and physical dimensions as well. While maintaining a focus on literacy and numeracy, we must also ensure that learners have regular opportunities to engage in a range of areas of learning and that the starting point for learning reflects the needs and interests of the learner.
The development of positive attitudes and motivation are vital for progression in literacy and numeracy and we have to ensure that the learning experience for all learners in these areas is enjoyable and satisfying. All learners should benefit from the opportunity to experience the joy and excitement of getting ‘lost’ in a book (in both paper-based and digital formats) and come to appreciate the fun of exploring mathematical problems and the satisfaction of arriving at a solution. All learners should also have regular opportunity to engage with those learning approaches, including cooperative learning, differentiated learning, active learning and problem-solving activity, which we know not only contribute to more effective learning but increase learners’ in participation and enjoyment of the learning process.
Placing a strong focus in schools on the development and monitoring of students’ literacy and numeracy skills is not incompatible with a broad and balanced curriculum, nor should it lead to a narrowly focused curriculum. On the contrary, ensuring that each child masters the skills of literacy and numeracy in a wide range of contexts is essential if they are to be enabled to access learning in a whole range of areas. At the same time, learning in all areas of the curriculum can greatly enrich students’ opportunities to acquire and apply their literacy and numeracy skills.
We must ensure, therefore, that the development of learners’ literacy and numeracy skills is comprehensively
provided for in the national curriculum and that there is clear progression between the different stages of the
learner’s development. We have to ensure, too, that our aspirations for learners’ literacy and numeracy development expressed in the curriculum documents are reflected in the curriculum as experienced by each child and young person in school. We need to make sure that the learner’s progress in literacy and numeracy is carefully monitored at each stage of development, and that there is a focus in teaching on ensuring that all children and young people develop appropriate skills in literacy and numeracy.
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