In UK news over the past few weeks, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a plan for all pupils to continue maths until age 18. The policy, if it is to come into place, proposes to prepare young people with the skills to support the economic growth of the country by making maths compulsory until age 18.

There have been many responses to the potential policy, but you can read the response from Cultural Learning Alliance here.

At Artis, our work in schools is not about polarising the arts from maths, or science or literacy or topic work. Artis sessions are about teaching curriculum subjects through music, drama and movement. It is about utilising the arts as a tool for learning. By bringing a topic to life you are helping children access knowledge in an active and responsive way.

We sing about punctuation, act out fractions and dance the solar system.

Artis pride ourselves on the imaginative ways that we can find to teach subjects that are traditionally “non-creative”. We wanted to bring together some links to resources that help children teach maths creatively:

• Video Resource – Body Countdown : Body countdown can be used as warm up before physical activity and is an active way of practising countdown, subtraction and developing coordination. Body countdown can be easily adapted for KS1 or KS2 children and to different levels of ability.
• Video Resources : Squares and Circles : The perfect maths activity for LKS2. With a geometry focus on circles and squares.
• Video Resources : Pulse Warm Up : A warm up, or refocus activity, to encourage children to work as a team and develop their pulse and rhythm skills. Numeracy skills are also encouraged with the counting of the rhythm and can be further developed to include adding and subtraction.
• Teaching Resource – Be Maths Smart : Be Maths SmART is a blog designed to provide inspiration & ideas for teaching maths through the performing arts.
• Teaching Resource – Top 10 Tips for Maths through the Arts : Finding practical applications for maths, is key to understanding the importance and relevance of the subject, and enthusing your students. In fact, when you start looking for Maths in everyday life, and in other subjects, you find it everywhere.A cross curricular approach greatly helps to deepen children’s understanding, and strengthen their learning. Additionally, it gives the children’s confidence and enthusiasm for maths a huge lift, as it gives those who don’t excel in more traditional lessons a real opportunity to shine.
• Blog : Can children take their first steps in mathematics through the performing arts? Our schools tell you how their children are able to excel in maths through their Artis sessions.
• Blog : A-one, two, three FOUR! Maths and music have a lot more in common than you think. This blog explores patterns and counting in music.
• Blog : Telling Stories with Mathematics by Marcus du Sautoy.  A brilliant blog by mathematician Marcus du Sautoy about how maths is actually inherently creative.

There are so many incredible benefits to using the arts in the classroom, including physical and mental wellbeing, but there are also so many benefits to reading and writing, to understanding, to spatial awareness and communication. Numeracy is an integral skill in life, but so is creativity, and we believe there are so many ways that you can foster both inside and outside of the classroom.

Artis offer CPD days for teachers interested in learning more about teaching maths creatively, so if you would be interested in finding out more, please contact us here. We also run Project Days and Arts Weeks with maths as a focus area.