Malet Lambert is known for its love of a variety of sports, but the PE department have taken this one step further – combining a traditional pub sport with a maths lesson.
Mr Robinson, PE teacher and Year 8 Progress Leader, had the idea to buy a selection of dartboards to encourage pupils to try a different kind of sport.
The Friday lunchtime darts club – also known as the ‘Mally Pally’, after the colloquial name for darts venue Alexandra Palace – has become very popular with pupils and it has the added bonus of improving members’ maths skills.
Mr Robinson said, “It’s great to see so many pupils here enjoying a different kind of sport.
“Many sports we play are very physical, but darts is a sport of precision and accuracy.
“We welcome anyone to join us, but pupils aren’t allowed to bring a calculator and they must work out the score before they can take their next turn.
“It’s a great activity for improving mental maths, and has been such a successful way of engaging pupils in numeracy, that we are starting a compulsory after school club for any pupils who need to improve their maths skills.
“Hopefully, it will be enjoyable for those involved and will spark an interest in maths activities for them.”
For some pupils, this is their first introduction to darts, but for others, they have been playing with family for years.
Darts club member Josh said, “My granddad taught me how to play darts, because he plays for his local pub team.
“We play together at home and it’s good to have somewhere else to practise too.
“The more you play, the faster you become at working out the score in your head. I’ve noticed it’s helped me become quicker when we’ve had mental maths tests in lessons.”