Megan’s story: Discover Maths

Megan was clearly nervous and barely spoke in the introduction meeting. Her parents let us know that they were keen to encourage her to participate, but weren’t sure she’d go on any of the trips as this programme would be a massive step for her for a range of reasons. We agreed to work together to try to help Megan to overcome the barriers she had.

Megan made it to the first trip but struggled to work with others in group tasks, instead working with one of the adults. By the next trip, Megan was able to quietly participate in group activities and had begun to interact more with other young people in the group.

With each trip she did more of the maths tasks, and even began to share her ideas with the students she worked with. The teachers told us they had seen the same shift in her, as she became chattier with other students and more confident that her ideas about the maths tasks were right and would be useful to others. Her parents told us that she really enjoyed the programme and that it helped her to gain confidence in maths and interacting with other students, as well as helping her create new friendships.