We all use numeracy every day in all areas of our lives, both at work and in practical everyday activities at home and beyond. Developing our students’ ability and confidence when working with numbers will impact them financially, socially, and professionally. It will even affect their health and wellbeing by increasing their confidence and self esteem. Decisions in life are so often based on numerical information; to make the best choices, we need to be numerate.
Some examples of the ways we use maths every day include:
- Working out how many minutes until our train or bus
- Increasing a recipe to serve extra guests
- Checking we've received the right change
- Setting and keeping to a budget
- Managing our diet and nutrition
- Measuring medicine doses
- Making sense of statistics and graphs in the news
Math teaches logic and order. You can expect a mathematical equation to have a predictable outcome, and precise steps must be followed in order to attain that result. It also improves communication as students are required to find the precise language to explain how they arrived at a solution to a complex problem or to describe the ideas behind a formula or procedure. It is our aim to use engaging, exciting and accessible learning activities, often with real-life contexts, geared towards ensuring that our students have the opportunity to solve problems, explore ideas, establish connections, collaborate with others and develop mathematical resilience.
In year 7, Maths and Numeracy learning activities include:
- Planning a holiday; including looking at hotel bookings, currency exchange, flight times and different time zones.
- Decorating a bedroom; including measuring the room, calculating how much paint and carpet is needed and total cost.
- Harry Potter facts and figures; including using averages and finding percentages of amounts.
- Football transfers; including looking at money, reading data from tables/charts and averages.