The ‘Cars Maths in Motion’ program has motivated pupils from all ability sets. They voluntarily spend time in their lunchtimes or after school working on the project. We are here every Friday for well over an hour after school has finished, with NOT the ‘select few’ but pupils of different age groups & different abilities. The success has given our school Maths Dept. a good reputation locally. All this in a school that was one step away from special measures. We were in the ‘Need to Improve’ category and that’s just what this project helped to achieve.
Linda Phillips – Head of Maths, Mill Vale School, Dunstable
Peel Park will be taking part in the next ‘Cars Maths in Motion’ without a doubt. The confidence alone gained by the 1st and 2nd teams would be worth it alone! One of our quieter girls, who was about average in maths, has gone from 4a to a predicted 5a and can also now talk for England (talk about a confidence builder!).
We also have a pupil who would not talk to anyone, including her teachers, in school. We spotted that she did speak to her friends when they were doing ‘Cars’ so we developed some lesson plans in other subject areas but dressed them up as relating to the program. Problem solved!!’
Garth Hall – Peel Park Primary School, Bradford
‘We had an Ofsted visit this week, looking at ICT across the whole school. The Inspector was very impressed by the Challenge and how it engages our students.’
Tony Bassett – Hilbre High School, Wirral
‘We have had another wonderful year racing at Chatham House School, and we are hoping to expand our maths club still further next year as we now have a waiting list of pupils wanting to get involved!’
Dr. John Tebbutt, Assistant Head of Mathematics – Chatham House Grammar School for Boys, Ramsgate
‘I have never seen so many children enjoying mathematics in the same place at the same time. This is an absolutely wonderful project for schools to participate in.’
Dame Wendy Davies – Associate Director, Specialist Schools & Academies Trust
‘The Challenge has seen us working with 7 of our feeder Primary Schools and has engaged pupils at both ends of the ability equation. This really grabs them and their willingness to get involved in a maths based project has been so refreshing and so rewarding. It’s what I came into teaching for; it’s fun motivating and exciting!’
Jill Rothwell – Philips High School, Bury
‘When it comes to classroom excitement and dynamics, maths lessons don’t normally spring to mind. However, when we are doing this the enthusiasm goes through the roof and so have some of our achievement levels as a result!
Sheila Hirst – Magdalen College School, Northampton
‘Our Year 6′s are so keen to get involved in this we have to run a knockout competition to see who can join the Maths Club! This is spot on what we are trying to teach at this age and definitely helps to raise pupil achievement at all levels.’
Geoff Earl – Layfield Primary School, Yarm
‘One of the main benefits from taking part in this Challenge is that the pupils get to see that maths can be put to good use. Much of what is seen in the classroom can be related to situations, but is still abstract to some degree. Running the Challenge has given our pupils the opportunity to see that maths is used in things that they have an interest in. It has grabbed the pupils’ attention and has, without doubt, increased their enjoyment of maths in lessons as well as at our Club.
Another good thing is that the pupils get to partake in some friendly competition, which it seems is usually confined to sports, but this way other pupils get the same experience through things that they are interested in, in this case maths. The competition has also helped pupils learn other skills such as teamwork, compromise and evaluation skills that they may not usually associate with maths.
More than anything else our pupils thoroughly enjoy competing against one another and taking part in the Challenge. It has helped raise the profile of maths with the pupils, and has also been a great social thing for them. We now have a group of pupils in years 7, 8 and 9 who know each other and have extended the Challenge from just the one club meeting a week into something that they now discuss outside of the room, work on at home and ask for extra sessions to perfect their cars! The skills that our pupils have learnt, and are learning, will be essential for them to have and we are hoping that over the coming years the Challenge can be extended to include KS4 pupils. The software is also an excellent tool to have within the maths department and we are planning to use it in other ways so that many more of our pupils can have access to it over time.
Matthew Giles – Castleford High School
‘We were looking to motivate our borderline C/D students and we achieved that and more! Our GCSE results have reflected the work we have done and we now have a real buzz in most maths lessons. The project has been and continues to be absolutely brilliant!! We are integrating ‘Cars’ into our classroom teaching from Year 7 upwards from this year.’
Gary Young – Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys
‘I have run this as a lunchtime Club for 4 years and it never ceases to amaze me how enthusiastic my pupils get each year. They really do get totally immersed and become self-motivated.’
John Sullivan – Harlaw Academy, Aberdeen City
‘We have been using this program with our bottom and middle set pupils for just one term and the difference in both attitude and achievement has been nothing short of amazing. Maths is no longer something for ‘the other kids’ – they all want to get involved in it! On a personal note, I have to say that I’ve found the whole experience thoroughly enjoyable – it has really put some oomph back into everybody!’
Heather Reniecke – Coombe Dean School, Plymouth
