Undiscovered prodigies in Westmeath will now have an outlet to shine with the launch this week of the JUMP (Junior Undiscovered Maths Prodigies ) maths programme by the Minister of State for Training and Skills, Ciarán Cannon.
Initially developed in Canada by Dr John Mighton, JUMP Math is a new method of teaching maths to primary school children that aims to enhance their potential and encourage an understanding and enjoyment of the subject amongst both teachers and their pupils based on a central belief that anyone can succeed at maths.
“Students are expected to discover and understand mathematical concepts by answering questions and working through challenges on their own with the support and guidance of their teachers,” said Siobhan Creaton, spokesperson for the Department of Education.
Some 24 schools across the nation are participating in this programme, with 600 third-class pupils taking part.
All of the schools will be following the national maths curriculum, with the JUMP Math programme used as an alternative teaching methodology in 12 pilot schools.
A further 12 schools will act as a comparison group. They will be using another methodology, IMPACT (Interactive Methods and Practical Approaches to Communicating and Thinking ) Maths, which has been developed by the Professional Development Service for Teachers.
The experiences of the 24 schools will be evaluated by the education research centre which is seeking to determine whether the methodologies raise the performance of these eight and nine year olds in standardised tests.
