THREE Cork schools have joined forces to establish a new numeracy project, that will help students transition from primary to secondary maths education.

The North Monastery Secondary School, North Monastery Primary School, and the Blarney Street CBS are collaborating on a new maths initiative which will run over the next three years.

The project is being led by the North Mon Secondary School, and involves collaboration of numeracy methodologies, to improve student attitudes towards maths and prepare them for Junior Cycle.

The project was launched this week and is set to commence in the next academic year.

North Mon secondary school teacher Christine Coleman said all three schools want the best for their students. 

“We are all DEIS schools which means delivering equality of opportunity in schools. We want the best for our students. It is exciting. The aim of the project is to bridge the gap between primary and secondary maths in preparation for the Junior Cycle,” she said.

Ms Coleman who is also a Home School Community Liaison co-ordinator said the project which is aimed at fifth class, sixth class, and first-year students will help improve educational outcomes in numeracy. “The project was set up with a view to improving numeracy skills and attitudes to maths. We also want to ease the transition from primary to secondary school because it can be challenging. We want to align a methodology in numeracy so that the students transition better into secondary school in preparation for Junior Cycle maths.

“It involved a lot of collaboration between fellow North Mon secondary school teachers Eoghan Healy, Kieran Ruby, and me. Due to my role working with parents and in the community, I went into the two primary schools to collaborate with the primary school principals and the maths teachers. The project then involved equal collaboration between all three schools to improve educational outcomes in numeracy,” she added.

A substantial grant from the Department of Education was approved to enable the three schools to invest in maths equipment and chrome books. Ms Coleman said the equipment is aimed at improving learning outcomes.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education told The Echo: “The Department is delighted to welcome this cluster of schools on the northside of Cork city to the project, and looks forward to working closely with them to promote and support collaboration, innovation and learning in the area of mathematics.”