1. ALM -15 CONFERENCE Edel Connolly Philadelphia, USA 1 July 2008

2. Adults Learning Mathematics A Declaration of Numeracy Empowering Adults throughMathematics Education

3. established in 1992 at Secondary Level • built on the theory and practice of partnership • parents, teachers and community agents as partners in education Home School Community LiaisonScheme

4. to raise awareness in parents of their own capacities to enhance their children's educational progress and to assist them in developing relevant skills Home School Community LiaisonScheme - Aims

5. Establishing such partnerships involves: • home visitation by the Home School Community Liaison Coordinator • provision of a comfortable milieu such as a Parents Room Home School Community LiaisonScheme

6. curricular areas - allowing parents to help and support their children with school work • personal development • aspects of educational development from basic literacy to certificate examination subjects and diploma courses Home School Community LiaisonScheme - Classes & Courses

7. 1997 OECD study, Parents as Partners in Schooling, referred to the Home School Community Liaison Scheme as: ...educational initiatives based in schools can raise the educational level of the adults involved, and result in a general sense of empowerment in the local community. Parental involvement, especially in areas of socio-economic deprivation, does not just benefit the children and the school - it is a crucial aspect of lifelong learning. Home School Community LiaisonScheme - Classes & Courses

8. Urban Schools • Unemployed • Medical card • Local authority housing • Lone parent • Mother’s education • Father’s education Home School Community LiaisonScheme – Disadvantaged Status

9. to allow the parents an opportunity to engage in a variety of mathematical activities • to take the fear out of mathematics as a subject • to make mathematics more accessible, practical, and enjoyable Fun Maths for Parents - Aims

10. entice parents to look to other methodologies of helping their daughters in their approach and attitude to the subject at home • a positive experience for all concerned Fun Maths for Parents - Aims

11. identified with Home School Community Liaison Coordinator • spent their young adult life at a great distance from formal and informal education Fun Maths for Parents - Parents

12. expressed reluctance, negativity and a total lack of confidence in their abilities with regard to mathematics • target parent-group...cross the school threshold to take part in a learning programme in a subject deemed by them to be terrifying and alienating Fun Maths for Parents - Parents

13. HSCL discussed the idea with the parents • Invited into the Parents Room to meet • Outline • changes to the mathematics syllabus at Junior Certificate level • focus that the Department of Education and Science wished to place upon mathematics as a more practical and accessible subject Fun Maths for Parents – Action Project

14. Monkeys and Bananas • Odds & Evens (card game) Fun Maths for Parents – Games

15. Fun Maths for Parents – GamesDice Numbers

16. Fun Maths for Parents – GamesCountdown

17. Fun Maths for Parents – GamesI have…Who has…?

18. 0.7734 710.77345 35006 0.40404 Fun Maths for Parents – GamesCalculator Words

19. Fun Maths for Parents – GamesBoard Game

20. Fun Maths for Parents – Set Up

21. Fun Maths for Parents – Award

22. to introduce the programme throughout the school year and include all of the First Year classes • financially disadvantaged, but also educationally disadvantaged • to continue with Fun Maths for Parents into Second Year Fun Maths for Parents – Recommendations