As a nation, we are witnessing a growing recognition of the fundamental importance of numeracy in helping individuals and communities to better cope with increasing uncertainty and change.
From adapting to new job markets to making the family budget stretch further in the face of the increased cost of living and energy bill hikes, never has there been a better time to support improving numeracy.
Vanquis Banking Group and National Numeracy have a shared purpose – we’re both committed to improving people’s numeracy skills for a better everyday life.
Who are National Numeracy
National Numeracy was established as an independent charity in 2012 to help raise low levels of numeracy among both adults and children and to promote the importance of everyday maths skills.
Challenging negative attitudes, influencing public policy and offering practical ways to help adults and children improve their numeracy.
By working with communities, employers and teachers, the charity enables everyone across the UK to be confident and competent with using numbers and data, so they can make good decisions in their daily lives.
National Numeracy want to improve how people understand and work with numbers in day to day life – sparking better opportunities and brighter futures.
We want to empower everyone in the UK to have the numeracy skills that allow them to fulfill their potential at work, home and school. We believe that a major shift in attitudes is key to this.
Supporting National Numeracy Day for a sixth year
As a lead supporter of National Numeracy Day for a sixth year, Vanquis Banking Group was instrumental in making 2022 a breakthrough year for National Numeracy Day.
Along with inspiring almost 460,000 actions to improve number confidence and skills in May alone, the campaign led to 16,854 downloads of National Numeracy resources, a 70% increase on 2021.
The campaign also had significant impact across media with a 24% increase in social engagements on 2021 and a media reach of 201 million! To support the day we
- created a website blog post promoting National Numeracy Day and the National Numeracy Challenge
- shared a powerful thought leadership article from Malcolm Le May, our CEO
- encouraged colleagues to take part in the Big Number Natter campaign and discuss how they use numbers in everyday life
- encouraged colleagues to watch the rolling numbers live stream helping National Numeracy set a new Guinness World Record.
Supporting local disadvantaged children and families
We share National Numeracy’s belief that every child can develop the number confidence and numeracy skills they need, both at school and throughout their lives. Its work to support children’s numeracy targets disadvantaged communities, where the need is greatest and where improving numeracy can act to drive social mobility.
The charity’s mission is to empower children to get on with numbers so they can fulfil their potential. At the very heart of this work is the Parental Engagement Programme. Working in close partnership with schools, the programme runs across the course of an academic year and comprises the following components
- Family Maths Toolkit – a set of problem-solving activities for children to complete with their families
- support for parents, carers, and teachers to gain number confidence to help children in their care
- attitudinal workshops, the National Numeracy Challenge online tool, and a parental engagement communications toolkit
- ongoing support and expert advice throughout the school year via teacher workshops and school cluster meetings.
With our support, National Numeracy was able to extend the Parental Engagement Programme to serve low-income communities with low levels of numeracy in Greater Manchester. By working with non-maths specialist teachers, support workers, parents, and families, it is building confidence, competence, and positive attitudes to numbers for all children.
In the school year 2022/23 it is working with seven schools across the area. 100% of teachers who attended a parental engagement training session in Manchester agreed or strongly agreed that as a result of the training they feel more able to support children in developing positive attitudes towards numeracy. 2,010 children in Greater Manchester have been provided with Family Maths Toolkit scrapbooks to support the development of their number confidence.