Madam, - With reference to the article "Maths: where did it all go right?" (Education Today, September 30th), may I commend Ann Barry-Murphy, head of maths in the Christian Brothers' College, Sydney Hill, Cork on its excellent results in this year's Leaving Cert? It is most encouraging to read that 52 per cent of their students took higher level Maths, compared with the state average of 17 per cent.
Ms Barry-Murphy notes that "from the start, we emphasise the importance of maths and science". I would go a step further and suggest we begin this encouragement in junior infants'.
The primary school curriculum acknowledges that mathematics "may be seen as the science of magnitude, number, shape, space" and goes on to state that among its aims for our very young children is "to develop a positive attitude towards mathematics and an appreciation of both its practical and its aesthetic aspects".
The emphasis of maths and science should not be left solely to teachers. Parents too have many opportunities to apply mathematical ideas in practical everyday contexts. There are many ways to provide concrete, verbal, pictorial and symbolic modes of representing numbers. May I suggest starting with an old copy of The Irish Times?
Tús maith, leath na hoibre! - Yours, etc,
BRENDA MORGAN, Asgard Park, Howth, Co Dublin.