Children from 7 Oxford primary schools have celebrated completing a pilot initiative designed to improve mental maths skills, sponsored by Oxfordshire web technology experts, Olamalu.
Recognising the importance of maths skills in every day life, Witney based Olamalu is supporting Numskills, part of educational charity Reading Quest incorporating Numeracy Quest, in a revolutionary maths programme currently being trialled across seven Oxfordshire primary schools to help children from Year 2 to Year 6 improve in maths through playing games.
Olamalu has paid for over 170 children to have a Numskills resources pack including a number line, number square, pack of cards, dice and counters to enable children to complete a Numskills activity book based on the latest National Curriculum guidelines.
Kate Berman, co-founder of Olamalu, said: “Maths is an integral part of education and everyday life and has the ability to open doors to many different professions such as web technology. The Olamalu team were extremely keen to work on the Numskills initiative from the outset, to help put in place the building blocks needed to ensure maths skills are developed from an early age.”
Specialised tutors from Numeracy Quest have trained teaching assistants to use Numskills resources with two sessions a week taking place throughout the school year in addition to encouraging participation from parents at home.
Jayne Lacny, Director of Reading Quest incorporating Numeracy Quest, the educational charity behind Numskills, said: “The objective of the Numskills pilot is to build children’s confidence and enthusiasm is mental mathematics in addition to encourage better participation in class and at home. The games have been specifically designed to make maths fun, which should also help families feel more confident in dealing with mental maths.”
The seven Oxford schools to trial Numskills are:
Our Lady’s Catholic Primary, Cowley
Botley Primary School
Windmill Primary School, Headington
SS Mary & John Primary School
East Oxford Primary School
John Henry Newman Primary School, Littlemore
St Christopher’s Primary School
Lynn Knapp, Head of Windmill Primary School in Headington, said: “The children have really enjoyed Numskills. We’ve seen all of them make good progress, particularly with their self confidence and their positive attitude towards tackling mathematical skills.”
Following the success of the Oxfordshire Numskills pilot, it is hoped the initiative will be rolled-out nationally. For further information about Numskills, visit: www.readingquest.org.uk
About Olamalu
Olamalu are web technology experts based in West Oxfordshire. They build websites and undertake Drupal technical consultancy for a wide range of businesses including the world famous Oxford and Cambridge Universities.
They are passionate about developing future generations and were proud to get involved in the activity being run by Numskills. Maths is such an important part of everyday life, in every industry and Olamalu were keen to support a charity who were inspiring and building numerical confidence in primary school children in Oxford.
About Numskills
Numskills is a bank of resources that aims to rehearse and develop key mathematical skills, knowledge and understanding through engaging with motivating, fun games and activities. It is flexible, fun and can be easily used by teaching professionals or trained volunteers. Children can enjoy the pleasure of playing games while acquiring maths fluency. Activities can be sent home for the whole family to enjoy.
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