Maths Week Ireland: Promoting a Positive Attitude to Mathematics in Ireland

Maths Week Ireland is an annual festival established in 2006 by people in the STEM community as an all-island event including the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Particular effort is made to highlight maths for life, for careers and as part of our culture. While the core principle is “Maths for All” the main engagement is with schools. In 2018 teachers reported 354,000 primary and second level pupils participating through in-school activities, online activities and events at partner centres. Maths Week creates an opportunity to disseminate new ideas in maths education. It also creates a space whereby teachers can try out new ideas and invent and create new activities with their pupils. This paper describes the organisation and activities of Maths Week and discusses the impact of the initiative with particular reference to evaluation with teachers.