Mental maths? Tagtiv8 brings in the fun through active learning.
When someone suggested we become ambassadors for Child Friendly Leeds, we jumped at the chance! Any organisation with the aim, ‘We’re working to bring everyone together to make Leeds a child friendly city’ has to be awesome.
Child Friendly Leeds’ resolve to ‘put children and young people at the heart of a strong economy, in a compassionate city’ reminds us of a statement made by a teacher during one of our active learning training sessions in neighbouring Bradford:
“We don’t do enough for our children’s hearts.”
Such words are one of many reasons behind Tagtiv8’s purpose. Our aim is to get schools to think differently about the way children learn. Our approach is one of active learning, using the hashtags #sitlessmovemore and #moveandlearn to convey what we are about. Our approaches create win/win solutions for education and health.
According to Bryn Llewellyn, Founder of Tagtiv8: “We know that something magical happens when teachers take their children outdoors to play with numbers and their Moderate to Vigorous Physical Activity (MVPA) kicks in. The extra blood flow, oxygen and glucose to the brain improves learning abilities.”
With this in mind, Tagtiv8 approached Andy Daly-Smith and fellow researchers at Leeds Beckett University to test out the active learning approach and assess whether the anecdotal evidence was true. The aim was to evaluate the impact of Tagtiv8 maths lessons on both physical activity and maths performance.
Initial discussions with Andy Daly-Smith reiterated the international research:
“Lesson times are the most inactive times in a child’s life.”
Children in KS1 and KS2 from a primary school in Leeds were baseline tested before being randomly allocated to groups; taking part in either a seated classroom lesson or a Tagitv8 active learning lesson.
Commenting on the results of the tests, Andy Daly-Smith said: “The results showed that pupils who took part in the Tagtiv8 lesson achieved over nine minutes more MVPA compared to the traditional classroom lesson and spent 15 minutes less in sedentary time.”
“When it came to assessing whether active learning led to better academic outcomes we saw promising results. Overall, there were small improvements for pupils who learnt in an active way. Further, those pupils who were most active in the Tagtiv8 lessons seemed to have the greatest benefits which suggests activity may play a key role in enhancing learning. Additionally, lower ability children, who took part in the Tagtiv8 lesson maintained their academic performance whereas pupils in the traditional classroom lesson decreased.”
To find out more about the research by Leeds Beckett University, click here. We were delighted that the positive findings were featured on ITV Calendar News.
Even though Tagtiv8 work and play with schools across the UK and abroad, we are Yorkshire born and bred. We are proud to tell the world that our active learning resources are Made in Yorkshire. Another reason why we are keen to support Child Friendly Leeds and encourage others to do likewise.
To find out more about Tagtiv8 and contact them: hello@tagtiv8.com
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