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Johnny Ball reveals all about the importance of skills for life in Tees Valley A much loved TV presenter and author famous for bringing maths to the masses visited Tees Valley on Wednesday 22nd July to inspire people to improve their numeracy and literacy skills.
Maths guru Johnny Ball was at home setting mathematic challenges for staff at the KP snacks factory in Billingham , relating to how maths plays a key role in their daily lives from working out shifts and part-time hours to the day to day calculations they need to make at work. The national treasure, who fronted Think of a Number and Johnny Ball Reveals All, was promoting the importance of gaining essential Skills for Life* numeracy and literacy qualifications. Johnny's visit to the region is part of the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North East Skills for Life campaign, focusing in particular on the importance of gaining basic numeracy skills, equivalent to those expected of an 11-year-old. Johnny, who has spent his career popularising maths and making it easy to understand and apply to real life, said: "Many people today do not handle the basic maths required for everyday life, very well. The problem can often be traced to bad maths experiences at school. However, these difficulties can be overcome, if people can be persuaded to face up to them. Just as confidence can be damaged, so it can be repaired and improved. 'We must encourage people with such problems, to try confronting them, as this can lead to improvements in every aspect of life, from becoming better qualified in the work place, to building similar confidence in our kids. 'The first and most difficult step, is deciding to do something about maths problems, by perhaps signing up to a numeracy course. Facing your problems with a smile can make both maths and even our whole lives more fun." The Learning for All Fund ( LfAF ),financed by the LSC* North East through the European Social Fund (ESF) and managed by unionlearn (the TUC's learning and skills organisation ) work with the company to fund learning activity at the KP site via a team of Union Learning Representatives (ULRS). ULR* Jean McDermottroe is seconded to the project full-time through the LfAF . Jean and the other five ULRs engage with fellow workers, providing information, advice and critical support to enable hundreds of staff to improve and develop their skills and gain qualifications for both personal and professional gain. Staff at the KP factory can also take advantage of a fully-equipped learning centre based in the factory.
Rachel Ovington , HR Cluster Lead - Northeast at KP, added: 'Employee Development is vital if we are to continue to be a successful business within the Teesside community. We will look for any opportunity to encourage learning and development in our workplace whether that is an NVQ*, a vocational programme or a visit from Johnny Ball, maths is at the heart of everything we do.' The Skills for Life campaign is part of the Government's drive to improve basic skills. The Leitch Review of Skills outlined an ambition for 95 per cent of the country's working age population to achieve the basic skills of functional literacy (Level 1, the level needed to work towards achieving a national qualification such as a GCSE or NVQ ) and functional numeracy (Entry Level 3, being able to read, write and understand common fractions and adding and subtracting money using decimals ) by 2020. This equates to 597,000 people of working age to achieve Level 1 or above in literacy and 390,000 people to achieve Entry Level 3 or above in numeracy. Many adults in the North East lack the Skills for Life needed to progress in learning and work. In 2003, when the national Skills for Life survey was conducted, 22 per cent of working age adults in the region had literacy skills below Level 1 and 28 per cent had numeracy skills below Entry Level 3. Progress has been made and in 2007/08 there were nearly 15,000 Level 1 literacy achievements in the region, compared to just over 12,000 two years ago, and an estimated 1,100 Entry Level 3 numeracy achievements, compared to nearly 700 two years ago. Dorothy Smith, Regional Director (Interim), LSC North East, said: ' Good numeracy and literacy skills underpin almost everything we do in our daily lives - at work and at home. In difficult economic times, good maths and English skills are more important than ever. Research shows that people who lack Level 1 maths and English will struggle to get half the jobs available, whereas those with good skills can earn an additional £50,000 over their lifetime. 'Help is at hand, with courses which offer an entirely different experience from school days, focusing on helping adults improve their skills so they can deal with practical, everyday situations in life and work. 'Tackling poor numeracy skills is a particular challenge but one that we must overcome due to the significant impact that the lack of numeracy skills can have on life chances, leading to low self esteem, unemployment and depression. The increased self confidence and motivation learners gain from completing a course is of huge personal value and helps them start the process of transforming their lives, both at home and at work.' A report from the National Research and Development Centre has shown that those with poor numeracy are: more than twice as likely to be unemployed as those with competent numeracy more likely to be semi-skilled or unskilled less likely to have a computer at work less likely to have received work related training or promotion less likely to be homeowners. They also have the lowest rates of pay and are less likely to be promoted than those with competent numeracy skills. For further information on improving basic numeracy and literacy skills visit www. direct.gov.uk/ geton or call 0800 660800. Press release (1,100 words) issued 27 Jul 2009  Six Book Challenge: empowering adults to enjoy reading and improve skills for life Training time for toon heroes! Ex-postman learns to sort email |
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