Maths-Whizz Blog

Maths Report Divides Education Community

Whizz.com research shows children make their own minds up about their maths ability before they reach the age of nine.

This is why placing the blame on weak assessment of pupils by their teachers fails to get to the crux of the problem of why our children are failing at maths early in their academic careers, says Richard Marett, CEO of Whizz.com.

An investigation into maths teaching by the National Audit Office found that over 30,000 children are leaving primary school with the numerical ability of a seven year old.

“Reporting and assessing, although important, does not actually change how good students are at maths. The only way of improving their ability is through developing teaching methods and tools and changing attitudes to maths tutoring” says Marett.

“Being poor at maths is seen as ‘ok’ in the UK, amongst both kids and adults. It is much ‘cooler’ to excel in arts subjects than it is in maths. This is where we differ from our Asian counterparts who are achieving much more highly.

“This attitude does nothing to raise attainment. Teachers and parents both have to play a part in improving students’ attitudes towards learning mathematics and thus raising their confidence.”

Research at www.whizz.com makes it clear that children make an internal decision as to whether they are good at maths before they reach the age of nine. Therefore new methods and technologies that make a difference to younger students to supplement existing teaching would be much more cost-effective than reforms to assessment. In reality, teaching methods have changed little over the last two decades and innovative new ideas are not being exploited fully.