Our Mission
Maths on Toast’s mission is to make maths a creative, enjoyable, hands-on, social activity for families and communities.
Our Vision
Maths on Toast want everyone to feel positive about maths – to feel that it is something they can do, and enjoy.
Our Need
Maths is a core school subject and according to National Numeracy, numeracy is linked to life chances. Poor numeracy remains endemic in the UK and government statistics suggest that 17 million adults – 49% of the working-age population of England – have the numeracy level that we expect of primary school children.
Maths anxiety is a particular problem; defined as a ‘debilitating emotional reaction to maths’ by the Nuffield Foundation. Much of the population does not understand what maths anxiety is, or how best to overcome it as it isn’t an obvious difficulty, it is hidden, and it can be affected by gender, age or culture. Recent research from the University of Cambridge, funded by the Nuffield Foundation reports that maths anxiety can lead to poorer performance and poorer performance can increase maths anxiety.
Spatial maths (exploring space, shape and measure) and spatial reasoning is linked to maths progression. Spatial ideas underlie much of our spatial understanding. Those who have good early spatial skills are more likely to have success across mathematics and other subjects.