Meet Our Numicon Trainers
We have a team of Accredited Trainers based across the UK, please read about each individual below:
Sian Edwards
Sian Edwards has been teaching for 33 years. She has taught mainly Foundation and Key Stage 1 children and has worked in U.K. schools and overseas international Schools. She has management experience, being an Early Years Coordinator for a large proportion of this time. At present she is a supply teacher for Carmarthenshire and therefore gets plenty of opportunity to use Numicon apparatus in schools.
Helen Farmery BA PGCE
Helen Farmery is a Teacher Leader for the Every Child Counts Programme and a primary maths consultant for the London Borough of Barnet. She oversees the professional development of specialist maths teachers who are teaching one-to-one numeracy to our lowest achieving 7 year olds. She has 10 years experience as a classroom teacher and as maths subject leader in an outstanding inner-London school, during which time she ensured that Numicon became an integral part of maths learning across all the primary stages. Her regular use of Numicon as a quality first teaching resource, as part of wave three provision with the Every Child Counts programme and to support her own daughter who has Down Syndrome has given her valuable first-hand experience in using Numicon.
Helen is an experienced trainer and is available in the London area.
Katherine Gibbs Dip SIAD, Bed
Hons
Katherine has ten years teaching experience in Key Stage 1 and Foundation, as both Senco and Foundation Co-ordinator. She is currently a specialist teacher in a SEN Facility, teaching pupils with speech, language and communication difficulties, including Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Cerebal Palsy, Dyspraxia and Down syndrome. She is a regional tutor for the Makaton signing system and is trained in Brain Gym and Exercise for Learning. Katherine applies her experience with Makaton and Kinaesthetic learning to enhance multi-sensory maths teaching with Numicon.
Liz Gibbs
Liz Gibbs is a part time Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 learning and teaching adviser for Suffolk. She began her teaching career in 1984 and has taught in a variety of schools from rural primaries to large town schools until she joined the advisory service in 2001.
In early 2005 Liz left full time work in Suffolk to join the National Strategies as a National Whiteboard Network Director and ICT Adviser. She has since rejoined the advisory service in Suffolk on a part time basis. Liz also works as an occasional lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, a mathematics consultant with BEAM and more recently has joined Numicon as an accredited trainer.
Anne Henderson
Anne is eminent in the world of SpLD (dyslexia) and maths and is affiliated to the Dyslexia Unit at university College Wales, Bangor. Anne now lectures globally and provides INSET on how to teach maths to those with Special Educational Needs. She is a BEAM Maths Consultant. Her books include: Maths for the Dyslexic, A Practical Guide (2002) and Working with Dyscalculia (2004).
Chris Ingram
Chris Ingram is a freelance primary mathematics consultant who has
developed a particular interest and expertise in early calculation. She
is involved in leading projects with several Local Authorities and with
individual schools to support them in developing a more consistent approach to
key aspects of number.
Chris is an experienced primary teacher, subject leader and senior manager. She has worked as a Primary Strategy Mathematics Consultant, a senior
mathematics lecturer in Initial Teacher Training and has been part of
the writing team for National Tests at KS1 for QCA. In
addition to her freelance work with schools and LA’s, Chris is part of the BEAM
consultancy team and has also been involved in consultancy and writing for
educational publishers and resource companies.
Andrew Jeffrey
Andrew has been described as a 'Maths Evangelist'. He is passionate about the learning of mathematics, and believes that it is possible to have fun while getting to grips with even the most complex of mathematical ideas. He first met the Numicon team at the BETT show in London, and was very keen to be associated with an organisation which, in his words, 'just made sense of numbers for so many children'. Andrew was a teacher for twenty years, so is fully acquainted with the demands of the primary classroom. He now works for BEAM, as well as being an independent primary maths consultant and conference speaker, and is also well-known for his alter-ego as the Maths Magician!
Kay Lawther
Kay Lawther has been teaching since 1996 and has taught in every year group from Reception through to Year 6 in a variety of settings. She is currently a Year 3/4 teacher. Kay was first introduced to Numicon when her school were given funding to explore resources to support children with SEN and was impressed by the very visual and multi-sensory approach that the programme adopted. Watching it being used as a whole-class resource in Reception class, she was soon convinced of Numicon's potential as a whole -school approach to the teaching of Numeracy and the implications that this had for inclusion. "...the children are excited to use the resources...their attitude to maths has improved significantly and their confidence is increasing daily!! What more can you ask for?"
Jane Lockwood
As a freelance primary mathematics consultant Jane currently works in school and for her LA, as well as leading training for Numicon. Jane’s interest in Numicon began when she led a case study on multi-sensory approaches to mathematics. Because of the overwhelmingly positive response to Numicon, Jane is keen to help others make best use the materials. Jane is committed to high quality professional learning for practitioners, which is rooted in practical ideas and approaches for the classroom and based on what is known about how children learn mathematics. Following on from excellence in her own classroom, Jane became a Primary National Strategy Mathematics Consultant and gained extensive experience in training.
Helen Long BEd (hons)
Helen is a Primary School teacher with experience of teaching children in all year groups. She has been maths coordinator and also held a senior management role coordinating Foundation stage and Key stage 1. Helen has experience in training and supporting colleagues and parents, in particular those involved with educating children who have Down Syndrome. She has used Numicon with children of a range of abilities, including a number who have Down syndrome. Helen is also a parent of a child who has Down syndrome.
Sue Lowndes
Sue Lowndes is a maths teacher and maths consultant, she also co-authors a range of maths teaching materials. Sue has a desire to enable people of all ages to experience the joy of maths, reach their potential and develop self-confidence. After teaching in two large mixed ability 11-18 schools she began her consultancy work in 1995 alongside running a nursery school in Buckinghamshire. As well as her work with Numicon, Sue is one of two maths consultants working for NACE and also plans and delivers bespoke maths training for schools and LAs and maths experience days for pupils in schools KS1-KS4.
Jill Mansergh
Jill has approximately 20 years experience as both a primary and secondary teacher where her management roles have included SENCO and head of department. More recently she has worked as a local authority consultant mainly in primary schools. Jill currently divides her time between freelance consultancy and ITT at Bath Spa University. Her recent publications include ‘Thinking for Ourselves’ (2007) and ‘It makes you think’ (2007). She is a member of the BEAM consultancy team.
Seonaid Phillips
Seonaid began teaching in 1972 and, in addition to teaching in Britain, has taught in Zimbabwe, America & Holland. She
became interested in Numicon whilst working as the Senior Advisory
Teacher (SEN & Mathematics) for an outer London Borough.
Seonaid
is impressed by the inclusive nature of the Numicon Kits and programme.
Pupils respond positively to its use both in Primary and Secondary
schools and pupils with SEN make significant progress.
The
structure provided by the Numicon patterns allows pupils to move on
from counting to calculating and Numicon encompasses a wide and rich
mathematical environment. This approach enables teachers to provide
adaptable resources and lessons that benefit all pupils.
Janet Rees
Janet is a freelance mathematics consultant. She has wide experience as a headteacher and advisory teacher as well as lecturing adults and college students in mathematics education. She has written books and games for use by both teachers and children. Her interests are many and varied from Early Years to Year 7 including the assessment of learning, creative ways to engage children in mathematics and mental calculation strategies.
Barbara Robinson
Barbara Robinson has taught in a wide variety of educational settings from Early Years 3+ to training University of York staff and students in IT skills. Her teaching career also includes work with dyslexic children and Traveller Roma children at KS 1 and 2. Current work is supply teaching at KS1/2 and event administration for the Dcsf National Strategies: Every Child Matters, SIPS, SEAL events, etc.
Initially trained as an Infant teacher, Barbara has always been committed to the use of multi-sensory approaches in Mathematics and has found the Numicon equipment the most exciting and effective that she has used. She purchased her own set for use in schools over ten years ago and has sung its praises ever since!
Through the Numicon training she hopes that participants will experience for themselves the pleasure and power of making visual a wide range of abstract mathematical concepts and that this will then enhance children’s experiences, leading to solid progress and life long learning confidence in Maths.
Elaine Sellers
Elaine Sellars has 20 years experience of teaching maths across all the key stages, working and leading teams within large comprehensives to small primary schools and nurseries. Employed by LA’s, schools, publishers, professional bodies and educational charities as a maths consultant and trainer, author and speaker, Elaine enjoys working with and meeting a wide variety of people. Her training is practical with an emphasis on fun and approachability, whilst being grounded in subject expertise and a background of excellent teaching.
Numicon plays an increasingly important role in her training and consultancy as ‘it works; pupils enrich their concept of number through this multi-sensory aid and the abstract becomes real. Then the learning really begins....’
Kristin Wallis
Kristin is a Primary and Secondary school teacher from Iceland, teaching in Iceland from 1993-2004. She moved to England in 2004 and soon after that was introduced to Numicon! Kristin translated the Foundation Kit in 2005 and began to organise Numicon courses in Iceland from 2006. Kristin also works closely with a distributor in Iceland to supply Numicon materials and provide training.
Kristin regularly travels to Iceland to run courses. She also encourages Icelandic schools/groups to visit England on educational/recreational trips.
Kristin's aim is to get Numicon into as many schools in Iceland as possible!
Val Willmott
Val has been teaching for 18 years and is the Headteacher of co-educational, non-selective preparatory school in South West London. She has been heavily involved in teachers’ professional development for much of this time, delivering INSET on many themes, including mathematical problem solving and investigations, ICT and maths, assessment for learning, mentoring and lesson observation.
Val believes Numicon is for everyone, including the most able, because it “brings numbers to life”, and that children of all mathematical abilities should be physically “doing” maths whenever possible. She is committed to raising the quality of learning for all pupils, by giving their teachers the time to explore new ideas, to collaborate and innovate, and to share their successes during training and feedback sessions.
