LCFC & Rachel Riley Celebrate World Maths Day On Filbert Way!

The day-long event, titled '8 Out Of 10 Foxes Does Countdown', was designed to harness the inspirational power of Premier League football to encourage local children to engage with education.

Primary school children headed to Filbert Way for a day of fun-filled, educational sessions with Rachel, alongside Leicester City star Marc Albrighton, 2017/18 Academy Player Of The Season, Conor Tee, and Club Mascot Filbert Fox.

Around 60 children in total, from four local partner primary schools, attended the event, which saw the LCFC Community Trust launch a brand new Premier League Primary Stars maths provision - ‘5000/1’.

As with the LCFC Community Trust's overall strategy to motivate children into enjoying learning, Premier League Primary Stars, a national scheme from the English game's top division, is tailored to promote active living and academic progress. 

During the event, the invited pupils took part in a series of maths-related activities, including coordinates-themed sessions in the West Stand, and a very special game of Countdown in The Gallery.

Speaking to LCFC TV, Albrighton, a popular figure on Filbert Way, said: “If I could’ve done this when I was a kid, come to a football stadium and learn maths, then I probably would’ve come out with better grades!

Expand photo

Rachel held quick maths sessions in the dressing room, with players' shirt numbers being used for mental arithmetic.

“It’s an important life skill, it’s a main subject that you need to know about. You need it in everyday life, so it’s important to concentrate and make sure that you do your best in it.”

The visit concluded in The Gallery, where a short Q&A session was held with each of the special guests - while Rachel also hosted a relaxed game of Countdown, adapted from the TV show, which is now in its 80th series on Channel 4.

After the event, Rachel, a presenter on Countdown since 2009 and its comedic spin-off, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown since 2012, told LCFC TV: “Football is a brilliant maths material to promote numeracy.

“If you think about kids playing online, they’re all looking at statistics to pick their favourite players, they’re looking at pie charts, they’re looking at heat maps, at how many runs a player has made, how many goals a team has scored and how many points teams have in the table.

“This event is about showing children that maths has a real everyday practical use and can be fun at the same time.”

Premier League Primary Stars maths sessions will now be available in LCFC Community Trust’s partner primary schools from this month, while digital resources - for school teachers and parents alike - can be downloaded online.

Allison Tripney, Community Director at the LCFC Community Trust, added: “We think it’s really important to show the link between football and academic subjects.

“We work in primary schools to raise achievement in English and in maths and we’ve also recently appointed a full-time STEM coach, so focussing on science, technology, engineering and maths.

“All of the maths they’re working on is football-related, they’re using the seats in the stands behind us to work out coordinates, they’re using league tables and football-related stats as the stimulus for them to learn, so we almost disguise the curriculum using football.

“We’re very keen to support what teachers do and give the young people in our local schools the best chance to achieve the highest grades possible.”

For more information about the LCFC Community Trust, click HERE.