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Important update from TheSchoolRun

For the past 13 years, TheSchoolRun has been run by a small team of mums working from home, dedicated to providing quality educational resources to primary school parents. Unfortunately, rising supplier costs and falling revenue have made it impossible for us to continue operating, and we’ve had to make the difficult decision to close. The good news: We’ve arranged for another educational provider to take over many of our resources. These will be hosted on a new portal, where the content will be updated and expanded to support your child’s learning.

What this means for subscribers:

  • Your subscription is still active, and for now, you can keep using the website as normal — just log in with your usual details to access all our articles and resources*.
  • In a few months, all resources will move to the new portal. You’ll continue to have access there until your subscription ends. We’ll send you full details nearer the time.
  • As a thank you for your support, we’ll also be sending you 16 primary school eBooks (worth £108.84) to download and keep.

A few changes to be aware of:

  • The Learning Journey weekly email has ended, but your child’s plan will still be updated on your dashboard each Monday. Just log in to see the recommended worksheets.
  • The 11+ weekly emails have now ended. We sent you all the remaining emails in the series at the end of March — please check your inbox (and spam folder) if you haven’t seen them. You can also follow the full programme here: 11+ Learning Journey.

If you have any questions, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you for being part of our journey it’s been a privilege to support your family’s learning.

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"He had problems counting up in twos, fives and even tens"

Lillian and Robbie - dyscalculia experience
Lillian Blundell, from Bath, describes her experience of the SEN and school system with her son Robbie, 16, who has dyscalculia, and shares her tips for other parents.

'We used to live in South Africa and when Robbie first started primary school there at age seven he was seen as able and focused. But I had concerns about his maths even then as he had problems counting up in twos, fives and even 10s which I thought was strange. He also seemed to have no idea whether he should add or subtract.

'In Year 2 his new teacher was less understanding and said it was down to a lack of concentration. This situation escalated and the teachers thought that he could possibly have ADHD. In an attempt to help we enrolled Robbie for extra maths teaching, but he didn't progress at all.

'We moved to the UK in 2008, just before Robbie turned 11, and he started Year 6 at his new private school. We were disappointed that they didn’t offer him any chance to catch up and placed him in the bottom set, but because the schooling is so strict in South Africa Robbie was initially praised for this manners and good behaviour.

'However his new Year 7 maths and form tutor was very strict and believed his problem with maths was just an excuse not to work, that he was lazy. We tried speaking to the school as by then we wanted him assessed, but their attitude was that he would just have to work harder. Things got worse when he turned 13. He had the same teacher and it seemed he spent every Saturday that year in detention for things like disorganisation (which we later found was part of his condition anyway).

'At the end of Year 8 he moved to the senior school and two weeks in the tutor called and said he thought Robbie had possible learning difficulties as he had noticed him struggling.

'We finally had him assessed by an educational psychologist at the age of 14 and the report suggested that he had signs of dyscalculia. We showed the report to the school who told us they didn't have the resources to help him, so we moved him to a state school.

'Robbie started his new school, which was much more supportive, in Year 9. His new maths teacher was happy to read the educational psychologist's report and Robbie could access extra time with a teaching assistant as well as extra time in exams. The first term was hard as he was new, but Robbie was happier and less stressed although he was still struggling to catch up. That's when we went to [dyscalculia expert] Steve Chinn who carried out a wider assessment and diagnosed dyscalculia. The report has helped both his maths teacher and the teaching assistant understand him better and give him the extra support he needs.'

Dyscalculia: practical tips for parents

  1. Always let the school know what is going on and pass on any specialist reports to make sure you get the extra support you are entitled to. Remember that teachers leave and sometimes information doesn't get passed on, so keep reminding people!
  2. If you as a parent think there's a problem with your child, get help and go with your instincts – your feelings are probably right.
  3. Find other areas to build up your child's self-esteem if they're struggling with school work. Robbie is very strong at IT and music and has even set up his own skateboarding club.

Dyscalculia: advice and information

Dyscalculia is a dysfunction in a person’s ability to understand or work with quantitative or spatial information. It is predominantly concerned with numbers and arithmetic. For more information and advice head to our dyscalculia section; you can also try some practical tips to help you with your child's fear of maths (or your own!).

Steve Chinn is a consultant, researcher and writer who specialises in dyscalculia.