On World Maths Day (23 March) research has revealed that, due to the pandemic, 61% of teachers in the UK are finding that their students are less secure in their understanding of maths being taught whilst 44% are worried that their pupils risk falling behind in the subject and almost half (46%) have covered less of the maths curriculum than normal. Amid these concerns over the impact the pandemic has had on maths in particular, Renaissance Learning is looking to encourage a passion for maths among all primary school pupils.
Pupils are being asked to think big about how maths can be found in the everyday and create imaginative artwork showing their vision of where they can see and experience maths in the world around them.
The overall winning school will receive £2,000 towards a trip, whilst the individual winners from each of the three age categories will receive a Kindle Fire and a year’s subscription to Freckle and Star Maths for their class or school. Winning entries may also appear as future ‘Depth of Knowledge’ questions in Freckle. Every entrant will receive a certificate to thank them for taking part.
Renaissance already works with over 800 schools in the UK through the provision of adaptive solutions that support the practice and assessment of reading and maths. As part of this competition, however, participating schools will be offered free access to Freckle, Renaissance’s new primary maths practice solution.
Catherine Magee, Teacher of the Year in a Primary School Silver Winner and Head Judge for the competition, says: “I’m delighted to be involved in judging the entries received from schools. It’s so important that we engage children in maths in an exciting and accessible way and this competition will give teachers and pupils the tools to do that.”
Sarah Haythornthwaite, Marketing Director at Renaissance Learning, says: “We’re really excited to be launching the “Sum it up in a picture” competition in a bid to encourage children to think about how maths is all around us in everyday life – and we hope to stimulate fun in the subject by getting pupils really engaged with their artwork! We want students to take ownership of their learning by connecting maths to their everyday experiences.
We’re also proud to be supporting teachers and schools with their mission to keep pupils excited about learning maths, which is why we’re making Freckle freely available for use at school and home.”
The competition will be supported by a range of inspirational school resources to bring maths to life and help fire up the imagination of pupils to create colourful, eye-catching artwork capturing how maths is used in the world around us.
The deadline for entering the competition is 6pm on 29th April 2022 with winners and highly commended pupils announced shortly after. Details on how to enter can be found at www.renlearn.co.uk/sum-it-up alongside more information about Renaissance and Freckle.
Photo by Monstera on Pexels