26th May 2010 9:00
By Blue Tutors
Secondary schools throughout the UK can learn from primary schools in Wales about how to develop numeracy skills according to inspection body Estyn. In a report on the BBC website, the standard of Maths has been examined in various schools in England and Wales, and Estyn found a worrying drop in abilities as students continue their education.
Particular schools were praised for developing numeracy skills in lessons outside of maths. It was found that the numeracy levels of students were much higher in schools were the students were encouraged to use their maths ability in English, History and other subjects, particularly when applied to real world situations.
However, the number of students not achieving the required numeracy levels at Key Stage 2 (ages 7-11), was far fewer than the number at Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14), and Estyn’s opinion is that this is due to many schools restriction of numeracy skills to maths lessons, and an over-reliance on calculators.
One secondary school was singled out for praise for developing a ‘buddy’ system, where older students tutor younger students in maths, and they found that this increased the mathematical ability of many of the students who received tutoring.