About NumSkills
NumSkills is an exciting programme helping children improve their mental maths and calculation skills while having fun with numbers and playing games, using everyday items such as dice, cards and clocks. This allows additional rehearsal and practice of basic number skills in a way that builds confidence and enjoyment of maths.
NumSkills Money is designed specifically to improve financial literacy; tackling everything from basic coin recognition to how to work out best value supermarket offers.
Activities are flexible and our tutors adapt them to meet the needs of children from Year 2 to Year 6. This is done through working closely with the school, to best understand children’s barriers to learning, whether this is through special educational needs, attendance or family circumstance.
NumSkills sessions use evidence-informed approaches and are delivered in schools across Oxfordshire to small groups of children (approx. 4) by our specially trained tutors.
After taking part in NumSkills, children are more confident in using the language of maths, and show far more willingness to engage in classroom maths activities. This is because of their improved fluency with number, as well as improved understanding of mathematical language used. They also talk about teaching the games to their parents and siblings at home.
The NumSkills and NumSkills Money activities are also available to buy and we offer training to school staff in how best to use the resources to support their current curriculum delivery model. To find out more, drop us a line on teaching@questforlearning.org.uk
Want to know more?
If you are a school, looking for help with some of your pupils, and would like to discuss how NumSkills could work in your school, please email us at teaching@questforlearning.org.uk
If you are a parent whose child has been selected for NumSkills, and you would like to know more about how it works and how you can help, please email us at teaching@questforlearning.org.uk
If you are a potential funder of educational projects, and would like to support us in our mission to tackle the education disadvantage gap, please email us at fundraising@questforlearning.org.uk
%
of children said they were more confident about maths after 9 weeks of NumSkills sessions.
How we work with Tutors
All our programmes are delivered by specially trained tutors who are employed by Quest for Learning and supported by our Teaching Team.
Interested in joining our friendly, supportive team? If you are an experienced primary teacher or qualified education professional looking for part-time work, we would love to hear from you!
“She tells me it’s a fun way of doing maths which makes her learn. It is a great highlight of her week.”
Parent
“Playing games helped me with my maths.”
Pupil
"I wanted NumSkills in my school as I could see the impact it had on struggling pupils. It's simple, the activities can be used by all staff and it works. Children love playing the games and begin to really engage with number work."
Headteacher
Ruby’s Story
Ruby was very quiet with low self-esteem when she began her Quest for Learning NumSkills programme. She was working slightly below age-expectations, but it was evident that she had some good basic Maths skills. Ruby would often try to avoid participating and would offer minimal engagement with the group. NumSkills aims to make maths fun with an emphasis on learning through games. There is fun and flexibility, and Ruby felt there was no pressure on her to achieve the ‘right’ answer. Within a couple of weeks, she began to engage more. Though still shy, she began to indicate quietly to the tutor when she wanted to share her knowledge with the group. She asked to play certain games, to suggest the ways in which games could be extended and began to explain to others in the group her mathematical reasoning. Her mathematical language developed and, after playing the game Three in a Row, she explained to the group the meaning of ‘multiples’. By the end of the sessions she was an enthusiastic participant, showed an excellent ability to apply her knowledge and skills in different contexts, was confident at recalling number facts and enjoyed telling her tutor about the maths that she was doing at home with her dad.
Upcoming training courses for teachers and TAs
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