WIREDGOV

Education Minister Huw Lewis has said an all Wales maths conference is part of the solution to driving up numeracy standards in Wales.

The Minister has announced he is inviting all secondary school Heads of Maths departments to a one day conference so they can share ideas on how best to engage their pupils and improve maths performance across the board.

The conference, the first of its kind in Wales, will be held in City Hall Cardiff, on Wednesday 28 January.

Huw Lewis said:

“We have made solid progress in driving up Welsh education performance in the last few years, and I am delighted that we have almost closed the gap with England. However maths is one area where we are not seeing the speed of progress that we want and need.

“Our maths teachers have a critical role to play in helping learners to develop the skills they need to succeed in the work place, and there is already some excellent practice happening in many of our Maths departments across Wales.

“This conference is all about spreading that good practice and providing maths teachers with an opportunity to learn from each other, to share ideas and to hear from experts in the field.

“My hope is that the conference will inspire maths teachers and arm them with practical ideas to take back to the class room so they can ignite their students with a passion for maths and drive up numeracy standards right across the country.”

The Welsh Government also plans to hold a maths conference for Primary school teachers later in 2015 in order to help ease the transition from primary school to secondary school maths.

The Minister also announced he will be setting up a Task and Finish Group to draw together actions to improve maths teaching and learning in Wales. The group will provide independent expert support resulting in a Maths Action Plan for Wales.