Wade shares experiences during latest Bullseye Maths session

James Wade - Bullseye Maths (PDC)

James Wade warmed up for the Cazoo Premier League's visit to Manchester by taking part in the PDC's latest Bullseye Maths session on Wednesday.

The former Premier League champion joined local students from St Barnabas Primary School in Blackburn on Wednesday for a darts-based maths lesson.

The children, aged between 9-11, made a special trip into school during the Easter holiday to meet the ten-time TV event winner, who spoke about the maths skills he has developed through darts.

The pupils then got to join Wade on the oche for some maths-based darts games, with the player offering tips and advice on numbers and throwing technique.

The PDC launched Bullseye Maths earlier this year as an initiative to encourage maths development in Key Stage 2 children, with in-school sessions accompanied by an online portal.
 
The hour-long Bullseye Maths sessions, led by Gary Horsley from Nottingham College's Room 180 Academy, see children introduced to darts and provide an innovative way of enhancing their numeracy skills while playing the sport.
 
"It was great to see Bullseye Maths in action," said the world number five. "I remember being incredibly shy when I was at school, and I could sense some of the children holding back to start off with.

"As the session got going, you could see the children easing into it and starting to enjoy what they were doing.

"That's what these sessions are all about - through playing sport, and improving your maths, childrens' all-round confidence will begin to grow.

"I actually really enjoyed maths growing up, but it is the problem solving where darts has really helped me in the real world.

"Sometimes things don't go to plan during a visit to the board and you have to quickly readjust the numbers in your head. These are vital life skills and it's great to see the PDC helping to make a difference."

The PDC was supported at St Barnabas Primary School by Keith Brunt and the Blackburn Youth Darts Academy, which is one of the biggest youth darts organisations in the UK. 

Gary Horsley, from Nottingham College’s Room 180 Academy, led the session and said: "The fact we got 15 children to come into school during the holiday for a maths lesson shows the appeal of darts and the excitement about meeting one of the game's greatest players. 

“James was brilliant and you could see the energy in the room from the children when they got to play darts with him.

"By making learning fun and interactive, we have seen the children engage with numbers and hope that they will continue to use the Bullseye Maths portal on the PDC website to continue learning."

The PDC's online portal includes introduction videos from top PDC players, including Cullen, Michael Smith, Gary Anderson, referees Russ Bray and Kirk Bevins and Sky Sports presenter Laura Woods, as well as the interactive Mathlete darts game and downloadable worksheets for students.
 
For more details about the Room 180 Academy, please contact Gary Horsley via gary.horsley@nottinghamcollege.ac.uk.