THOUSANDS of Essex pupils positively impacted by the Essex Year of Numbers

Schools across the county have benefitted from the £1.5 million programme, aimed at closing the numeracy gap.

Essex Year of Numbers has helped thousands of pupils in the county improve their maths skills.

The £1.5 million programme, funded by Essex County Council, launched in September 2023.

It came in response to evidence from UK charity, National Numeracy, that shows a link between low numeracy skills and debt, unemployment, and even poor health.

Essex Year of Numbers provided pupils with new opportunities, resources and knowledge to feel more confident using maths.

The aim was to help them develop a love of numbers through a series of fun and exciting activities. One initiative alone – ‘Number Stacks’ – resulted in an average increase in numeracy age of over nine months.

More than 25,000 pupils have now benefitted inside and outside of the classroom.

Events included maths-based theatre shows, DJ performances and baking workshops. Intergenerational activities for care homes and schools were also delivered.

Research revealed that 44%* of Essex parents did not feel confident helping children with maths homework. As a result, the council also joined forces with celebrity maths expert, Bobby Seagull.

Together, they launched the ‘Everyday Magic of Maths’ campaign as part of Essex Year of Numbers. This involved Bobby providing a series of fun and accessible maths tips.

Bobby helped families across Essex to embrace the fun and magic of maths in everyday life. This included understanding football results and writing rap lyrics, to baking a cake and learning a new dance.

Other key Essex Year of Numbers highlights across the year, included:

delivering maths programme, ‘Number Stacks’, in 200 primary schools with over 1,300 resource kits provided and 10,000 sessions run for pupils. This resulted in an average increase in numeracy age of over nine months between the start and end
pupils launching eco-refill shops at 40 primary schools in collaboration with Pupils Profit, gaining the number skills needed to run the shops themselves
‘Count Me In’ DJ and music sessions to show pupils the intrinsic link between maths and making music
a partnership with HSBC to make discussions around money less daunting for students aged 14 to 18-years-old
development and delivery of a Key Stage 3 programme to boost number skills in children who need a helping hand
a Ministry of Defence STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematic) project which gave 21 schools a coding success package
performances of ‘No More Numbers’, a show produced by the Mercury Theatre, which helped over 1,000 students discover the wonder of maths
a Cricket4Maths event, which brought together children and care home residents to enjoy a game of cricket and to see the original Venn bowling machine in action, introducing key maths concepts
a baking workshop which taught pupils how to weigh and measure ingredients, and calculate baking times
summer, Easter, Halloween and festive trails in Country Parks to engage children in maths outdoors
activities in Essex Libraries, including Lego Education workshops to build STEM skills
‘Read and Count with Me by the Sea’ and ‘Read and Count with Me Under a Tree’ activity bookbags for pre-school children
Councillor Tony Ball, Cabinet Member for Education Excellence, Lifelong Learning and Employability at Essex County Council said: “It’s been a brilliantly busy year, with the Essex Year of Numbers team successfully integrating maths into a wide range of fun activities and adventures for children across the county. Together with our partners, we’ve tackled what we set out to do when we launched the initiative – enhance numeracy skills and inspire a lifelong passion for learning among young people in Essex.

“Across the year, we’ve inspired young people and their families to embrace the magic of maths and identify new and fun ways to strengthen numerical skills in their everyday lives. I’m hopeful this is something they will all carry with them to the next chapter of their lives.”

Commentating on the initiative, Natalie Banthorpe, Assistant Headteacher at St Thomas More’s School in Colchester, said: “The Essex Year of Numbers initiative has been brilliant at engaging children and young people across Essex, improving their numeracy skills in fun and inclusive environments.

“By engaging pupils with activities like the interactive baking workshops we ran in our school, we’ve been able to show them the importance of maths in everyday life first-hand. This has been incredibly helpful in cementing their understanding.”

For more information about Essex Year of Numbers, visit www.essexyearofnumbers.co.uk or email [email protected].