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Pupils are reluctant to ask for maths help


By Emma Lee-Potter


Many secondary school pupils are reluctant to ask for help in maths lessons because they are scared of looking stupid. That’s what researchers found


when they quizzed 1,000 students aged 10 to 16 on their thoughts on maths teaching. The survey, commissioned by


children’s newspaperFirst News and online tutoring service iTutorMaths,


discovered that a third of pupils will not speak up in maths lessons for fear of appearing clueless. Even more alarmingly, more


than 60 per cent of 16-year-olds avoid asking questions in maths classes and would rather struggle on by themselves or ask friends or family for help instead. The children also said that their


biggest classroom fears include thinking they should know the answer already, looking stupid in front of their friends, feeling too


embarrassed, or not wanting to attract too much attention. There also appears to be a


gender divide when it comes to confidence in the classroom, with boys often more willing to answer questions than girls. At the same time, parents were


asked about their own attitudes to maths. About a fifth said they did not have the maths skills to help their children while almost two- thirds were not comfortable with some of the new mathematical


Lowest ranked Welsh schools to get £10,000 cash injection


Teaching unions have welcomed extra cash for the lowest ranked Welsh schools – although there is still scepticism about the Welsh government’s new banding scheme. The scheme, which became


fully operational in December, groups the nation’s secondaries into one of five bands. It considers a range of school data including exam results. Now, education minister


Leighton Andrews has announced £10,000 for every Band 4 and 5 school to secure improvements in standards and performance. He said schools would have


to submit clear action plans with improvement targets to their local consortia before they can access this additional money. “I have been clear that I want to see standards and performance in


education in Wales improve across the board,” he stated. “This funding, along with the


pupil deprivation grant, should support schools to address underachievement. In return for this investment, I expect schools and teachers to agree to share their best practice.” He also announced the creation


of a Practitioners Panel to advise the Welsh government on best practice, the exchange of ideas between teachers and headteachers, and the quality of materials and resources being introduced into the education system in Wales. The new panel will meet every


two months and will be comprised of leading headteachers or teachers. Mr Andrews added: “The best


teachers I see in our schools are the ones eager to learn and share their


experiences. I want to see teachers sharing their ideas.” Anna Brychan, director of


the National Association of Head Teachers Cymru, welcomed the extra funding. She said: “The debate about


the validity of single banding judgements continues, but at least releasing additional funds gets us part of the way back to what banding should be about – supporting, as well as challenging, schools to improve.” Dr Philip Dixon, director of


the Association of Teachers and Lecturers Cymru, said the funding boost would “go some way” to addressing a lack of school support. “Some authorities are still


lagging too far behind when it comes to the services and support on offer,” he added.


Book will help schools


The importance of using modern technology to engage students in engineering has been stressed in the run up to the finals of a major competition. Adventurer and science


St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road Herne Hill, London SE24 0PB www.markallengroup.com


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ISSN 1479-7704


Teachers and other professionals who work with children from service families are being offered support in the form of a ground- breaking new book. Written by Joy O’Neill, a service


wife and mother-of-three, Service Children: A guide for education and welfare professionals, is thought to be the first of its kind published in this country. It looks at the context of the lives


of young people with close relatives and friends in the armed forces, and the impact that the life-style has on them, their wellbeing, education and development.


2 Ms O’Neill, who founded the


Service Children Support Network four years ago and also runs conferences and workshops, said her research had found that families often felt unsupported, while teachers and other professionals were unaware of the types of challenges, situations and worries that young people who come from military families have. There are thought to be up


to 175,000 children from such backgrounds in the UK and beyond. She said: “When getting initial


feedback from professionals working with children, they said


the book helped provide positive information about situations they were unaware of. “Professionals may need to


do nothing other than be mindful and ensure that problems do not continue. Families can cope with a lot but sometimes it can be too much and the book is a reasonably in-depth overview of problems they face.” However, she added that


not every service child will have emotional or educational difficulties – some will fly through school, while others may need additional support at certain times. Visit www. servicechildrensupportnetwork.com


communication consultant, Huw James, who is to host the 2012 Bosch Technology Horizons Award, believes that because of the manner in which technology is developing, future STEM students will not be engaged with the disciplines unless teaching changes. It comes as research by Bosch


shows that only 41 per cent of 17 to 19-year-olds think engineering makes a difference – 10 per cent think it is “dull” and more than a quarter believe it is a “dirty or greasy job”. Mr James said: “It seems


that students are still taught in the ‘traditional’ way that we all recognise from our time at school. This works for one or two generations but the rate that technology is developing,


Winning words: Adventurer Huw


James is supporting


this year's Technology Horizons Awards


(above) while Felicity Harer, who won top spot in the 14 to 18 age category of the 2011 awards, is pic- tured with Bosch’s Peter Fouquet (inset)


to support service children Adventurer backs engineering essay competition


is it any wonder that the pupils get bored? “All too often we ask children


to sit down and focus, but how can we expect pupils to not get distracted when there is such a wide abundance of information and stimuli out there for them? It seems that the academic fraternity still thinks that if it doesn’t come from a book or out of the mouth of a professor, it’s not learning – which my experiences have certainly proved not to be the case.” This year’s Technology


Horizons Award has challenged students aged 14 to 24 to write essays on subjects including the Olympics and green technology. Split into two age categories,


the award aims to show the value of science and engineering to society and for students’ career prospects. The deadline for entries is April 20 and a £1,000 cash prize is up for grabs. For details, visit www.bosch. co.uk/technologyhorizons


methods (such as “chunking”) now taught in schools. More than three-quarters of


parents pointed out that class sizes affected their children’s performance and confidence in maths. Only five per cent of the youngsters themselves said they liked being taught in a large group. Almost half declared that they felt most comfortable working in pairs, while a third said working in small groups was their preferred method of learning. Andrew Tarling, managing


director of iTutorMaths, said: “With growing class sizes and greater demand on teachers, lack of confidence in maths is becoming a very real and worrying issue. “There is a huge disparity when


it comes to classroom environments throughout the UK. Unfortunately for many children a postcode lottery dictates whether they have access to small class sizes, which can make all the difference when it comes to confidence in speaking up in lessons.”


SecEd • March 15 2012


Photo: © Crown Copyright/MOD 2012


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