LONDON, ENGLAND—The Mayor’s Fund for London will join forces with the UK’s best-loved mathematician, Johnny Ball, to inspire London’s primary-school children to take part in a new math challenge. A total of 52 schools will take part in the COUNT ON US CHALLENGE, which is based on the 24® Game and the 24 Challenge®, created by U.S.-based Suntex International.
British television personality Johnny Ball visits with children who are preparing to take on their best and brightest peers in a London-wide Math Challenge.
The initiative is part of their wider Count On Us numeracy program aimed at motivating more than 3,000 children in 150 primary schools across the capital over the next three years. The top 13 schools will attend the Count On Us Challenge Final on June 10th, 2014 at City Hall.
In his role as ambassador for the Mayor’s Fund for London, Ball visited Sacred Heart Primary School in Wandsworth, to help inspire students to enjoy math, and give them hints and tips on how to play the 24® Game. “An understanding that maths is both fun and empowering is one of the most important things we can teach young people today,” explains Ball. “I am delighted to be working with the Mayor’s Fund for London to support Count on Us, which has identified key challenges for young people in getting to grips with numeracy."
Boris Johnson, Mayor of London agrees. “A good grasp of maths is a vital skill for success in the job market. The Mayor’s Fund for London’s work with young Londoners will help improve their chances of getting a decent job, escaping the threat of poverty and playing a full part in London’s future as the greatest city on Earth."
Jared Brading, Head Teacher at Sacred Heart Primary School says that the Count on Us Challenge has encouraged his students to see math in a different way, approach learning math with a more positive attitude. “We use the 24® Game across the classes and the Count on Us Maths Club to get children thinking.”
Count On Us was created as a result of a six-month investigation and study into the need for intervention to increase math skills among London students. Commissioned in partnership with City Bridge and conducted by National Numeracy, the study helped to identify where the Mayor’s Fund for London could best make a difference to halt the decline in math skills at an early age. Research shows that each year, nearly one out of every five 11-year-olds in London left primary school with the math skills of a seven-year-old.
The report’s three key recommendations were:
a) Make math more fun and engaging, and enable children to apply their skills
outside of the classroom
b) Raise the profile of math in schools and tackle the general negative attitude toward
learning mathematics
c) Encourage parents and caregivers to participate/engage with their children’s math education
The Mayor’s Fund for London’s exists to give young Londoners the skills and opportunities to get a decent job, escape the threat of poverty and play a full part in London’s future as the greatest city on Earth. Work focuses on helping young Londoners to be engaged, healthy and motivated to learn; offering extra support for core skills which employers say are absolutely essential (particularly numeracy and literacy) and supporting employers to create decent and sustainable career prospects for young Londoners.
DID YOU KNOW - MATH vs MATHS: People in the UK, India, South Africa and several other countries say “maths” instead of “math,” as we do here in America. Other slight differences you may notice in this article are the way our words “student” and “elementary” equate to their UK cousins “pupil” and “primary.”