Pupils at Halifax Primary School, Ipswich, learnt the importance of maths in everyday life thanks to a workshop recently, hosted by staff from Haven Power.
As part of the school’s ‘Maths in the Real World Week’, we dispatched our maths experts, Dave Golab, Pricing Manager, and Dave Mvula, Flex Contract Trader, to run maths activities with classes in year five and six.
The hour-long sessions included practical activities about how maths is a key skill in the workplace and can open up a lot of future career possibilities.
Dave Mvula said: “Maths is essential in the job I do at Haven. We want to encourage more children to see the fun side of maths – opening their eyes to the opportunities that it can lead to and how important it is in lots of different jobs.”
The children, aged from nine to eleven years old, learnt about how maths is used in terms of electricity bills, supply and use, including making pie charts and comparing energy use between the average corner shop and some of Haven’s bigger customers, like Manchester Airport. Other exercises included the importance of maths in thinking about your day-to-day budget.
David Golab said: “It’s incredibly important that children are introduced to the practical applications of maths at an early age. A good grasp of numbers is an extremely valuable skill – my friends and family are constantly coming to me for help! I find it very rewarding to be able to share my knowledge with others and hopefully inspire children to see the significance of their maths studies.”
Pupils were treated to some Haven Power mementos at the end of the session.
Joley, aged 11 and currently in in year six, said: “We learnt so much! Especially how we use electricity and how much each appliance costs; I will definitely be turning the lights off more now! Dave really knew what he was talking about and I could really see how he used maths in his job.”
Jenny Morgan, Maths Leader at Halifax Primary, said: “We’d like to say a big thanks to Haven for taking time out of their busy working day to visit the school, giving the workshop and helping to raise the profile of maths. The children had a great time problem solving and we hope it’s been really useful for them.”
Haven Power’s workshop is an example of the company’s strong community focus in the county.
Rachel Kemsley, finance director said: “As a large business and employer in Ipswich we are keen to engage with the local community and supporting schools is one of the ways we do this. It’s really important to us to be able to give something back and encouraging children to embrace key skills which will help them in their future careers makes sense for everyone.”
Designed to engage pupils who struggle to connect maths to the real world, the Maths Week is taking place at a cluster of schools in Ipswich.
Jenny added: “There are lots of great activities and events happening at our school and others close by, with parents and local businesses getting involved to give children the chance to get hands-on with maths. Whether it’s hairdressing, construction and engineering, shop keeping or baking, we want to show pupils that maths is everywhere!”
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