INTERNATIONAL experts in maths difficulties have been helping teachers get to grips with the issues some children face with numbers.

Richmond School and Sixth Form College played host to a regional workshop to help primary and secondary colleagues address the obstacles to learning dyscalculic children have to deal with.

Dyscalculia is similar to dyslexia but impacts on people’s ability to process numbers.

The workshop was staged by celebrated figures in the field Judy Hornigold and mum Penny Topsom, who has studied the issue after battling dyslexia herself and as a follow-up, the school also staged a workshop for parents of children who struggle with their numbers.

Judy told teachers: “A lot of the problems in secondary school can be traced back to what children didn’t understand in primary.

“It stems from pupils not having number sense or an understanding of the concept of numbers. It impedes academic achievement and people’s daily lives as it affects their understanding of time and money, for instance. It requires from teachers a lot of patience and repetition because students will lack the intuitive grasp of numbers.”