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The eight key skills

Key skill 05 / 08

Being Numerate

Numbers in real use: money, measuring, time and pattern. The maths that lives in the kitchen and the shop, not just the workbook.

01What it looks like at home

Most of her maths never touches a page. It is in the shop, the kitchen, the workbench.

  • Working out if there's enough money. And what the change should be.
  • Doubling or halving a recipe in her head when the numbers don't divide neatly.
  • Measuring and cutting so the pieces actually fit the first time.
  • Spotting a pattern and using it to work out what comes next.

02From a moment to the log

Here are three real-shaped moments. You write a line when it happens, and Sustenance suggests the skill it shows. That is the whole job.

AAoife · age 11Sat 09 May · 11:00

Given €10 for the market, she planned it out loud: "€3.50 for the eggs, two for the bread, that leaves me enough for the plant if it's under five." Came home with 20c and the plant.

Being NumerateManaging MyselfSuggested for you
AAoife · age 11Tue 12 May · 16:30

Doubled a pancake recipe for the whole family. Worked out that one and a half cups times two is three, and three eggs doubled is six, without writing any of it down.

Being NumerateBeing CreativeSuggested for you
AAoife · age 11Sun 24 May · 13:50

Building a shelf for her room she measured twice, marked it, and noticed the bracket holes were evenly spaced, so she measured only the first and counted the rest.

Being NumerateProblem-solvingSuggested for you

A line is plenty. You don't tag it, write it up, or grade it. You note what happened, and the skill comes attached. Add a photo if there's one to hand.

03In the report

When review comes round, those scattered moments are already gathered under the skill, written up in plain, assessor-ready language. This is the Being Numerate section of a term report, drawn from the moments above and others like them.

All the everyday sums she does without thinking are counted at last. Proof the maths is there, even when it never reaches the page.

Founding families

Founding places are open.

Sustenance is being built now. The first 100 founding families get in early at €9 a month, locked for as long as they stay.

A €1 deposit holds your place, credited to your first month.

Hold a place

Your deposit is credited to your first month. You choose whether to continue when Sustenance opens.