A new maths website is proving successful in boosting the numeracy skills of primary school pupils, teachers trialling the software have reported.
In a pilot of Arithmagicians, 93% of teachers said the educational tool had improved their pupils’ mental maths fluency.
Arithmagicians is the creation of maths teacher Ebrahim Tafti, who won a grant from Let Teachers SHINE to develop the website and app, which features games where pupils can race against time to answer maths questions in their heads.
In its first year, Arithmagicians has been well received in the 10 pilot schools that were given free early access to the website. A further 16 schools have purchased an annual subscription.
Suzanne Lees, from St Oswald’s CE Primary School, said Arithmagicians “has definitely been beneficial to all children”. She added: “Both the children and staff, have really enjoyed using Arithmagicians. The children are so much more confident with completing the mental questions for arithmetic.”
93% of teachers said their pupils were using mental strategies in class more often since using Arithmagicians.
Based on data from five pilot schools, pupils were able to do sums in their heads 43% quicker than they were before they began using the website. At one school, children were almost two-thirds (74%) faster.