Tigers welcome defending Aviva Premiership Rugby champions Harlequins to Welford Road on Saturday in the semi-final stages of this year’s competition, with a place in the Final at stake.
But away from the pitch, the club are also fighting numeracy problems in the classrooms at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School thanks to Premiership Rugby’s Tackling Numbers programme, delivered in partnership with MBNA.
Tackling Numbers is an award-winning interactive numeracy programme for young children. The five-week programme aims to teach 8-9 year-olds the importance of number skills in everyday life using the fun elements of tag rugby to get their message across.
The children at St Patrick’s are in the second week of their programme and are also looking forward to a tag rugby festival at Welford Road next week.
Tigers community manager Scott Clarke believes there is no better sport to help young people to improve their numeracy than rugby.
“The Tackling Numbers programme has been a great addition in assisting young people in local schools and it has been a big success,” he said.
“One of the things we feel strongly about at Tigers is how we help the community. The Tackling Numbers programme is something we 100-per-cent support and it is so well received by the schools that it has been making a real difference.
“Using rugby to help with numeracy makes it all the more real. Numbers play such a big part of rugby in the scoring system with penalties, tries and conversions, the numbers on the shirts, the capacity of stadiums – everything really
“So using rugby to get this message across makes it more fun and the rugby element and getting out and playing a bit of tag rugby is something that really excites the kids. If they work hard for the first hour in the classroom then they know they can have a bit of fun outside and I think that makes a big difference because they are almost learning without realising it when they are outside.”
Tackling Numbers is in its third year and is delivered in schools by representatives from all 12 Premiership Rugby clubs, through both classroom sessions and practical number-based rugby games.
This innovative and engaging programme makes learning about numbers fun, exciting and rewarding, inspiring children to improve their numeracy skills and their physical health.
It is set to be one of the cornerstones of Premiership Rugby’s new BreakThru campaign, developing sustainable health, education and social change through rugby. Programme delivery manager Sophie Hartley believes it leaves its mark long after the five weeks of the programme.
“One of the best things about the Tackling Numbers programme is that after the five weeks of the programme, the schools are really set up to carry on with all their good work,” she said.
“Not only do they have the numeracy skills we have worked on, but the schools are given a tag rugby kit and teacher training day so that they can coach tag rugby on an ongoing basis.”
This week's Tackling Numbers Programme coaching session is part of a week of activity to launch Premiership Rugby's Play and BreakThru campaigns.
