Toby and Elli volunteered at Rotherfield Primary School in Islington earlier this month, delivering a joint My Maths Story assembly and supporting two Maths in the Real World classroom sessions.
After being postponed due to the extreme heat warnings in June, Toby and Elli’s visit quickly became highly anticipated. And it was certainly worth the wait, with our volunteers delivering an engaging and inspiring session! In their assembly, they spoke to the children about using maths whilst watching the World Cup to work out how long is left in the match, and when shopping to help with comparing prices. They even used AI generated pictures in their slides sparking great discussion with the children about recognising AI images.
They continued to engage and encourage positive conversations about maths in the real world during the classroom sessions and were put to the test once again to answer the children’s unique and wonderful questions!
Elli said: "This was my first experience of volunteering with National Numeracy and, if I'm honest, it felt a little daunting walking into a room full of young people and wondering how engaged they would be. I needn't have worried. The pupils were incredibly engaged, asked some brilliant questions and showed a genuine interest in hearing about my experience and how maths is used in everyday life and at work. I thoroughly enjoyed the session and came away feeling that I had gained as much from it as the children had. I would definitely volunteer again and would encourage others to give it a go."
Toby said: “I was very excited about visiting the school. I felt well prepared because the National Numeracy team provided me with plenty of support to get my presentation just right for the assembly and understand how I could best help the teacher who led the follow up session with the class. The school was very welcoming, and the children were really engaged and kept me on my toes with their insightful questions. I would love to volunteer again with National Numeracy!”
Since 2018, Vanquis has been a valued strategic partner of National Numeracy, helping to build numeracy skills and create opportunities for communities across the North West and the UK.
Throughout our long-standing partnership, Vanquis has championed our work by supporting campaigns, research, schools and families, and employee volunteering. They also play an important role as a valued member of the National Numeracy Leadership Council, helping to shape our collective ambition to improve numeracy across the UK.
A massive thank you to Toby and Elli, and Vanquis for their continued support of our volunteering programme.
