Osmani Primary School, Tower Hamlets, partnered with Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Written by Remi Atoyebi, Headteacher
Background to the scheme
The school became involved in Number Partners with Bank of
America Merrill Lynch about 10 years ago.
All students in Year 5 (9 to 10 year olds) participate in the
programme. Partners attend the school weekly.
What do they do in a typical session?
Partners and students work on identified needs of the students.
Before students are allocated a Number Partner, the class
teacher completes a form highlighting each child's strengths and
areas for development. This form is given to the Number
Partner at their induction session with the headteacher.
The Year 5 classrooms are resourced with number games which
address key mathematical skills which children need to develop.
The Number Partners use the information sheet to decide on
which games they will play and which key skills will be the initial
focus of the partnership.
Both the Number Partner and students really enjoy playing
games. A comment from the session evaluation from a Partner
was, "Coming in and playing maths games is a stress buster for
me".
What impact do the Number Partners sessions have on the
students' numeracy skills?
Class teachers comment on students developing confidence and
proficiency in maths skills.
Do you think there are additional benefits for the students
taking part?
An additional benefit for students at Osmani is the opportunity
to meet and work closely with volunteers who come from differing
cultural backgrounds; it is one of the ways we are developing to
improve community cohesion.
How has the link with Bank of America Merrill Lynch impacted on
the school in general?
The school's link with Bank of America Merrill Lynch has had a
number of positive impacts - developing students' maths skills and
raising the school's profile within the local community.
The school has also been able to provide an incredible amount of
enrichment activities for students which we would not normally be
able to provide due to cost implications, eg, sponsoring a whole
school day out to see a pantomime.
The link is also supporting us in our drive to improve attendance.
Students who have 100% attendance over the academic year receive a
Bank of America Merrill Lynch award and a special prize. Last
year's prize was a trip to the London Eye.
The school was awarded 'outstanding' for our partnership with Bank
of America Merrill Lynch by OFSTED in July 2007.
What has been the highlight of taking part for you/your
students?
The highlight of the partnership for some of our students and
myself was when we were invited to meet HRH the Prince of Wales and
the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, RT HON Gordon Brown.