‘Shifting the mindset’ and encouraging students to have a ‘can-do attitude’ is key to making Government plans to make maths compulsory a success, according to teachers at Northampton College.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has recently unveiled plans to extend maths education up to 18, with a new advisory panel established to provide guidance to the government on ‘what maths knowledge and skills are needed for jobs in the modern economy’, and ‘what best in class’ modern maths content should look like’.
Kirsty Coogan, Maths Quality and Development Manager at Northampton College, said:
“Many students have a fear of failure. Because of the targets that have been set they feel that if they don’t achieve a Grade 4 in their GCSE maths they have failed but that’s not the case, they are on a ladder of progress and it may just take them more time to get there.
“It’s a real bugbear of mine that it seems culturally acceptable to say that you can’t do maths. Generally speaking, people don’t say that about English, even for those with dyslexia, so why are numbers different to words? We need to change the mindsets of both students and parents and get people thinking more positively around maths.
“We try to introduce different methods to deliver the topic and find the best way for students to overcome any maths anxiety they have so they can progress.”
Students from a wide range of courses at Northampton College recently joined in with a series of activities to mark Pi Day and raise the pro le of maths across the college at all levels.
‘Pi Day’ was held on March 14 in honour of the mathematical equation referring to the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The number, approximately equal to 3.14159 and known by the symbol π, appears in many formulae across mathematics and physics.
Art students, maths students and those on the vehicle refinishing course all teamed up to produce a sculpture highlighting Pi’s significance, while all students took part in a Pi Day starter activity in their vocational and maths lessons. Catering students joined in by providing perfect pies to all students involved.
Kirsty added: “Using coloured circles to symbolise of the main focus of Pi and the sequence of number as the ratio, the students really brought the concept to life. We want all students and start to feel they can embrace numbers as it is such an important part of our everyday lives.”
Interactive activities such as Pi Day are helping Northampton College students embrace maths and improve their confidence with everyday skills such as budgeting, forecasting expenditure and estimating bills.
It’s hoped that improve maths skills will result in a future workforce better equipped to handle maths-related tasks they will face in everyday business – ultimately benefiting companies across Northamptonshire and beyond.
As well as advising on what essential content is needed for 16 to 18-year-olds, the advisory group will consider what maths skills are needed in STEM and non-STEM reliant jobs.
They will also be asked to query what maths knowledge young people need by age 18 to manage their personal finances.
Other questions for the group to answer include whether the depth of content should vary across different post-16 pathways and how many hours of study will be required to cover essential topics.
Members will also consider if study needs to be continuous over the course of 16-19 education. Written evidence and advice will be provided to the government by the end of July.
For more details on maths courses available at Northampton College visit the website.
