Pioneering club brings parents and children together to do maths homework

The Multiply Project supports adults across the UK to improve their maths skills through free personal tutoring, digital training, and flexible courses over the next three years.

A standout feature of the Multiply Project at Dundee and Angus College is the Homework Clubs in the Angus area. These are designed to support parents alongside their children to provide an innovative and collaborative learning environment to enrich their knowledge and understanding of their child’s math education. The clubs are timetabled to suit working parents.

Due to the overwhelming demand, there are more than 70 names on the waiting list and other sessions have been extended to other areas within Angus and a new pilot is set to run in Dundee from February.

Kirsty Paterson, Project Delivery Lead of Multiply, said: “The Multiply project highlights our commitment to breaking down barriers in adult learning through innovative approaches and targeted funding.

“We often hear from parents that they struggle to help their children with their maths homework because they do not understand the concepts, methods or terminology being used in their child’s education.

“We aim to create a lasting change in how numeracy and Maths are perceived and applied in daily life.”

The Multiply Project, nationwide, has received a total of £559m from the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which supports people over the age of 19 who don’t already have National 5 Maths to develop crucial skills.

In addition to the Homework Clubs, D&A College has developed several other programmes to support local communities with upskilling in maths and numeracy, including several fully funded online courses.

Claire Elder, a parent in the programme, said: “Maths isn’t something that my son is confident in, and he doesn’t really understand what he is being taught at school. I am not very good at maths either and it has never been my strong point, so when I saw this club and saw that you had to accompany them, I signed up and now I am being able to support him because I am learning as well.”

Claire’s son Alfie thinks having his mum by his side at the class has changed his approach to maths.

“It’s like she knows what I’m doing so I don’t need to try and explain. I used to just write stuff down that I didn’t understand and then not know what I was trying to do when I got home. I don’t do that now, I write stuff down and I know what it is.

“This has been such a great way for me to get on the career path that I want, and it has given me more confidence to know that I can do it, just with a little more help.”

Claire added: “It’s absolutely been invaluable to us, I am so glad that we managed to sneak a place on it, I have been telling everyone about it.”

The positive impact of Multiply extends beyond the learning environment, influencing daily math-related tasks both at home and in the classroom with parents noting improvements in their children’s confidence, academic performance, and attitude towards learning.

Gordon Middleton, another parent at the Homework Club, praised the programme. He said: “My wife and I have been praising this and we would say go for it and keep an eye on any future sessions. We would like to see more of these for the core subjects that are taught at school.”

Following the success of the initial rollout of Multiply, Dundee and Angus College are reaching out to local employers to deliver bespoke packages to help workers upskill in maths.

Vice Principal, Julie Grace, of D&A College said: “We are delighted with the success of Multiply and the way it has proved so popular with families. We think it could apply in many areas of life and we would be delighted to hear from anyone who thinks it could help their organisation.”

For more information on the Multiply courses visit https://dundeeandangus.ac.uk/multiply or contact multiply@dundeeandangus.ac.uk