1. 14 Courier, Friday, January 23, 2015 KSC-EO1-S2 courier.co.uk
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Lesson in value
of maths comes
from City trader
Stock Exchange exercise sharpens skills
By Anna Verdon
anna.verdon@courier.co.uk
A SOUTHBOROUGH tutor is
pioneering the country’s first
educational project based on the
dog-eat-dog world of pit trading.
Blayne Jackson, with his friend
Dan Glass, started the project last
Tuesday at The Hayesbrook
School in Tonbridge.
The scheme saw students wav-
ing their arms and shouting at the
top of their voices while making
complex calculations – very much
like a floor trader on the stock
exchange.
Shouting
Mr Jackson worked for LIFFE
(London International Financial
Futures Exchange) between 1992
and 2000. And his communication
method was called open outcry – a
mixture of shouting and hand sig-
nals.
He hopes passing on these skills
to students will help with their
mental maths.
He also believes that it will
boost their confidence levels and
improve their ability to think
clearly under pressure.
He said: “Numbers are the
building blocks of life – whether it
be the structure of DNA, under-
standing the universe or even
basic binary for the development
of the most sophisticated com-
puter systems.
“We use maths in our lives
every day so having the skill to
mentally process numbers is
vitally important. Unfortunately,
this skill is being made redundant
by computers in one form or
another; however, computers still
need direction.”
He is currently rolling out the
project to pupils at the Hayes-
brook School.
The project is backed by the
school’s head of maths, who is an
ex-banker and understands the
need for mathematical sharpness
and numerical confidence.
He hopes to raise enough
money to bring the project to
schools across the country.
Pupils aged 12 to 14 have been
taught the system.
Mr Jackson added: “We have
had a huge amount of support and
incredible feedback from the
teachers involved and it was the
most amazing hour of my life.
“I learnt so much on the trading
floor while gaining a huge
amount of confidence, knowledge
about the financial environment
around me and worked in the
most exciting workplace one
could ever imagine.
Outcry
“The project uses open outcry
as a means to engage children and
adults in this exciting use of men-
tal maths.”
He also plans on inviting senior
representatives from some of the
world’s most prominent banking
institutions to see the project in
action.
“The kids at Hayesbrook loved
it and we had far more come to the
session than we expected,” he
added.
To make a donation, visit
www.gofundme.com/j1p3go
Hillview celebrates great
feats of women scientists
HILLVIEW School for Girls hos-
ted Women in Science Day for
Year 4 and 5 pupils.
Some pupils from Slade and
Pembury primary schools also
took part. Hillview science teach-
ers introduced pupils to famous
breakthroughs by female scient-
ists, including Mary Anning and
Marie Pasteur.
Pupils had the opportunity to
try out their own experiments in
the purpose-built science lab.
Teacher Michelle Boyle said:
“We planned the event to inspire
girls through the works of
renowned female scientists and to
show how much fun science can
be.”
At the end of the day, parents
were invited to a science fair,
where the pupils showcased their
work and talked about their
experiences of the day.
SCHOOLS PAGES
PLENTY TO SHOUT ABOUT: Boys at Hayesbrook School learn skills that are used on the trading floor
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