Free adult maths classes have boosted a mother of three's confidence and increased her chances of helping her kids education

Farheen Biscup, 35, is taking classes being run in the town that have enabled her to help to support her children with their maths homework.

The classes are provided by Dorset Council’s Skills and Learning Adult Education and form part of the government funded Multiply scheme.

The aim is to improve adult numeracy in four-week courses set in a fun and simple way.

READ: Free courses launching to boost maths skills across Dorset 

She said: “My nine-year-old son Basil had already started to ask for help with his maths homework when I saw the free Multiply course being advertised through my children’s school information app.

“I learned maths at school in India, but a lot of time has passed, and teaching has evolved, and I was worried about being able to show him and my other children how to actually work through the steps to get to an answer. When I looked at his maths the numbers literally ‘danced’ in front of me.

“I was also nervous before joining the Multiply sessions – I suppose I didn’t want to make myself look ‘stupid’ in a ‘maths class’. But I needn’t have worried at all. It’s as far removed from school as it could be.

“My tutor James is simply amazing - so encouraging.

“He uses simple, relatable games and methods for working with numbers and if I don’t ‘get’ something, make a mistake or just stare blankly he says: 'No problem. Don’t worry' and we just go over it again. As a result, my confidence has really improved.”

Dorset Echo: Multiply tutor James Houston wants to help adults boost their confidence with numbers. Multiply tutor James Houston wants to help adults boost their confidence with numbers. (Image: Debbie Granville PR)

The Get Money Confident and Get Number Confident courses both take place at The Digby Hall in Hound Street, over four Wednesdays and are open to anyone over the age of 19.

Get Money Confident runs from 11am-1pm and explores practical ways of using maths when budgeting, getting the best value when shopping, understanding bills, meal planning and cooking.

Get Number Confident runs on the same day from 2pm-4pm and explores key areas of maths such as fractions and percentages in a fun way, through a mix of games and discussion.

Multiply tutor, James Houston, said: “It has been great to see Farheen's confidence grow during our sessions together. She has such a passion to help her children and I love helping her to discover ways of supporting her children to enjoy practising maths."

James can be contacted via email on: jhouston@salbcp.com or for more details visit www.skillsandlearningace.com