Children are so often capable of far more than we think they are.  Here are some strategies that can be used to help them achieve their best, whatever their level.

• Use practical number-skill activities, where the same resource can be used at different levels

• Build positive attitudes

• Provide alternative levels of challenge and involve the children in deciding which level to choose

• Provide open-ended challenges which all pupils can engage in at their own level, and where the more confident pupils can explore things at a higher or deeper level

• Introduce numberless problems where, after starting with a problem with no numbers at all, numbers can then be introduced, with groups of children choosing numbers to suit their own level of challenge

• Play talking games where children put their own numbers into pre-written templates → talking games