Schools in the North of England will benefit from a £6 million investment to improve maths teaching across the region and help increase pupils’ confidence in mathematics, School Standards Minister Nick Gibb has confirmed today (16 May).
To mark the first National Numeracy Day, Mr. Gibb has confirmed that £1.75 million of funding will be used to create two new ‘Hubs’ in Central Lancashire and Cheshire to help spread best teaching practice and improve local pupils’ knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of mathematics.
The remaining funding will support the expansion of a south Asian ‘mastery’ approach to teaching maths in the region. Some of the leading performers in maths in the world, including Shanghai, Singapore, and Hong Kong use this teaching style.
The announcement today is part of the government’s plans to raise academic standards across the country, helping more people to secure a good job, an apprenticeship or go on to further study or training.
There are already almost 387,000 more children in good or outstanding schools in the North of England than in 2010 and 87 percent of schools in this region were rated as good or outstanding at their last inspection.
Minister for School Standards Nick Gibb said:
“Thanks to our reforms and the hard work of teachers, standards are rising in our schools and the proportion of primary school pupils reaching the expected standards in reading, writing and maths went up 8 percentage points last year. We have also introduced a more rigorous maths curriculum and now have record numbers studying maths at A-level.”
“But poor numeracy still costs the UK a staggering £20 billion every year and we want more pupils to feel confident using numbers as it can open up a wide range of options for future study, training and work.”
“Thanks to a £74 million investment there are already over 2,500 schools across the country involved in the Teaching for Mastery approach, and today’s announcement will help ensure more children in the north have access to a world-class maths education.”
Maths is one of the most in-demand skills in the labour market and it is already the most popular subject at A level, with almost 25% of students choosing to study it. The government is determined, through its modern Industrial Strategy, to increase the number of people understanding and studying maths, helping them to secure good jobs and boosting the UK economy.
The ‘Maths Hubs’ in Central Lancashire and Cheshire will initially be led by three schools in each region and will help to ensure more teachers in the area have the knowledge and skills to provide high-quality maths teaching. School recruitment for involvement is now open and the programme aims to start running this Autumn. Today’s announcement is supported by a £70 million investment to boost school performance in the north as part of the Northern Powerhouse Schools Strategy.
The government will also create Assistant Maths Hub Leads in 17 regions across the Northern Powerhouse regions, which will see Maths Hubs recruit respected school leaders in low engagement areas for one year – tasked with developing better partnerships between local schools and their Maths Hub.
Original source: GOV.UK
Published on 16 May 2018
