Inspiring people of all ages to see and use numeracy as a life skill to enhance their personal lives, as well as their employability KILPIN ROOM

Lynn Churchman Lead Consultant Inspiring people of all ages to see and use numeracy as a life skill to enhance their personal lives, as well as their employability

PRESENATION RECIEVED

‘Inspiring people of all ages to see and use numeracy as a life skill to enhance their personal lives, as well as their employability’ A seminar on the work of the National Numeracy Campaign Lynn Churchman, Founding Trustee15 th January 2014 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved 4

Introductions………….. Who is involved in working in/with:  Primary schools?  Secondary schools?  FE/post-16?  Adult continuing education? Who has …..heard of National Numeracy? …..been on the website? …..worked with National Numeracy in any form? 5 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved

Session overview What is the issue and why National Numeracy campaign? Being numerate? What does this mean? Engaging all learners and improving life chances: -changing attitudes: developing a positive ‘yes I can…..’ culture -challenging the ‘maths gene’ myth -the importance of ‘relevance’ and ‘reality’ -the role of our National Numeracy Challenge Discussion and questions 6 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved

Where we started? April 2010 ‘Count me in’ report by New Philanthropy Capital into the state of numeracy in England concluded that: poor numeracy levels are reducing the life chances of millions of people. a number of issues need to be tackled if numeracy is to be improved these issues are not being adequately addressed. The conclusion of the research was that this could best be achieved through a new organisation: “ existing organisations (both government and charitable organisations) tend to focus on a specific aspect of numeracy, rather than the wider challenges of improving attitudes and promoting successful approaches. However, it is essential that a new organisation works closely with existing organisations” 7 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved

8 Achieve a measurable transformation of  maths and numeracy in school  numeracy for adults Transform public attitudes to maths and numeracy Get rid of ‘I can’t do maths’ through practical campaigns For everyone, for life - move beyond ‘doing sums’ definition Annual survey to monitor the shift Bring an unrelenting spotlight onto numeracy Work as a hub to link organisations and enable change Promote pedagogical approaches that can transform outcomes in school and for adults Collate and disseminate all relevant research Identify gaps and propose new action research Develop consensus around ‘Essentials of numeracy for all’ Build an informed view of effective approaches Pilot projects to test potentially transformational approaches Scale up success End state is incorporation into central policy What we are about

Why do attitudes matter? In the UK it is almost a badge of honour - across the social spectrum - for people to say ‘I’m no good at maths’. Parents will freely admit to this to their children. In contrast in many countries, particularly high-performing ones, saying ‘I can’t do maths’ is as unacceptable as saying ‘I can’t read’. 9 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved

Shining an unrelenting spotlight on the ‘numeracy’ issue 10 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved

Lots of data/evidence on our website including reports/papers PISA 2013: The UK ranked 26 th out of 65 countries for maths – and our performance is not improving despite: Higher GDP than OECD average Higher education spending Higher University participation In 2012……… 42% of pupils in England failed to achieve and A*-C grade in GCSE mathematics 11 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved

12 78% of adults in England are working below L2 (A*-C at GCSE) 17 million adults working roughly at level expected of children at primary school The numeracy landscape: England

PIAAC 2013 (Prog for International Assessment of Adult Competencies) The impact of good numeracy Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved Likelihood of Positive Social and Economic Outcomes Among Highly Proficient Adults odds ratio “good” to “excellent” health high levels of trust participation in volunteer activities high levels of political efficacy high wages being employed Literacy Numeracy We need to engage with segments of society with low numeracy – the correlation between numeracy and life well- being is high. ‘Good numeracy is the best protection against unemployment, low wages and poor health’ Andreas Schleicher 2 nd Dec 2013

Age cohort analysis – picked up by the media… 14 "The talent pool of highly skilled adults in England and Northern Ireland is likely to shrink relative to that of other countries.“ OECD conclusion on results England is the only country where the skills of year olds are below those of the oldest cohort, the year olds Northern Ireland has maintained its position in international rankings while England has fallen. Numeracy Skills by Age Group

‘Good Numeracy’ means….? 15 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved Numeracy – often alternatively called ‘mathematical literacy’ – is a life skill. It means having the confidence and competence to use numbers and other mathematical skills in everyday life. It is the ability to reason with numbers, data and other mathematical concepts and to use and apply these in a range of contexts and to solve a variety of problems. To be numerically literate, a person has to be comfortable with logic and reasoning and interpreting information.

For example…………. 16 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved

17 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved Including Financial capability ……………

18 Our Essentials of Numeracy Being Numerate is knowing what to do with the tools… …so that you can use quantitative information to make good decisions Being numerate – it is more than knowledge… - and financial decisions are among the most important to get right

Being numerate 19 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved

20 1. A challenge to the UK to:  Change attitudes  (Re-) define ‘being numerate’ for life  Improve numeracy levels of the 78% below equivalent of ‘C’ at GCSE (based on ‘Essentials of Numeracy’) 2. A challenge to: Employers & Unions Adult education bodies Community organisations Individuals to work with us to effect this change. 3. An interactive website designed to:  assess an adult’s everyday maths skills  provide a suite of learning which will improve their skills and confidence and track their progress The National Numeracy Challenge AIM – 1 million adults over next 5 years…

21 The Challenge website

22 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved Understand the value of maths in everyday life. Ability is not fixed. Develop a ‘can-do’ attitude. Recognise that everyone struggles in order to succeed - its part of the learning process. Recognise the benefits of improving numeracy. Attitudes and building ‘mathematical resilience’…

23 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved The Challenge journey

Challenge Check-up Example 24 Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved

Challenge Check-up Example 25

Copyright © National Numeracy All right reserved 26 The Challenge Online: a learning process

87% of users said they would recommend the Challenge to friends and family 88% of partners said the Challenge met or exceeded expectations We learned that there is a real appetite for a website which is non-threatening and focuses on everyday maths skills: The Challenge is now in post-pilot development ahead of: full launch on 12 th March “Fantastic way to understand where you are with Maths” “Very welcoming and a site you want to spend time on” “The way it is linked to real life is brilliant” Pilot feedback

Inspiring people of all ages to see and use numeracy as a life skill to enhance their personal lives, as well as their employability