5 tips for teachers for engaging parents and carers with maths

Make sure parents and carers know how important their input is – it can make a big difference to children's achievement. Confident adults inspire confident children and even if parents/carers don’t feel confident with numbers, it’s important to avoid saying things like “I’m rubbish at maths” or “I hated maths at school” as anxiety about numbers can be passed down through the generations.  

Be approachable. Many parents and carers will feel anxious about maths so encourage open conversations with no judgement or tests. You could even point them to the National Numeracy Challenge, a free online tool aimed at improving number skills and confidence, which can be done at someone’s own pace, in their own time. 

Suggest that parents/carers point out maths in the real world and have conversations about it, to show the relevance of maths beyond the classroom. Numbers on buses, watches, timetables – what do they mean? They could also try to incorporate maths language into everyday life, for example: “Would you like your toast cut into quarters or halves?”

Remind parents/carers that it's OK to not have all the answers – parents sometimes lose confidence because they feel they are expected to know everything. It's fine to say: "I'm not sure, shall we find the answer together?" or "I don't know, I will come back to you with an answer though". It’s also OK to make mistakes – they are a great way of learning! 

Offer family learning provision – support parents and children together. National Numeracy’s Schools & Families programme is a great way to help children and adults build number confidence together, while our free Family Maths Toolkit has plenty of maths activities that can easily be done at home.