Loddon school’s lunchtime club helps pupils develop their maths skills
Pupils from Hobart High School who attend the lunchtime darts club, pictured with Norfolk players Vinny Mudd and Peter Taylor. Picture: Nick Butcher - Credit: Nick Butcher
The Norfolk Darts Organisation is always on the look out for more young members, and at Hobart High School in Loddon there’s a classroom full of pupils eager to play.
Hobart High School pupils Jack Norton and Sam Blazer playing darts. Picture: Nick Butcher - Credit: Nick Butcher
The school started running a darts club at lunchtimes three years ago, and now 14 youngsters from Years 7, 8 and 9 meet up twice a week.
And as well as getting them interested in the sport, boosting their confidence and encouraging them to make new friends, club founder Helen Linger said it has helped with their mental maths skills.
“The aim was to improve their mental arithmetic and it’s been a joy to my ears when I hear them saying ‘my maths is getting better doing this’,” she said.
“We play a straight start from 501 so they go straight into throwing their three darts and have to finish on a double.
- Credit: Nick Butcher
“They take it in turns to do the scoring. It does get very competitive and they all want to beat each other.
“It has been really successful and we’ve also brought it into sports day. We did it for the first time last year and held a knockout tournament.”
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The club has been supported by the county darts team, who sponsored a dart board for the group.
And this week Peter Taylor, who has been playing for Norfolk for 30 years and Vinny Mudd, who has been playing for them for 14 years, visited the school to play against the pupils and offer some advice.
“It’s good to see so many young people playing,” said Mr Taylor.
“More people are starting to get involved now it’s on TV, and Norfolk has got a youth team but it’s at the stage where they need more players coming in.
“When they set the club up, local players donated their spare set of darts for the boys to play with.”
Pupils will also be playing alongside staff in a special tournament kicking off next week, which will continue until May.
Year 9 pupil Sam Blazer, attends both sessions of the lunchtime club each week.
He said: “I started at the end of Year 7. I played on holiday with my dad and really enjoyed it so I joined the club.
“We play in teams and individually, but I like playing on my own because you get more turns.
“I look forward to playing and it has helped with maths.”
The pupils have had plenty of chances to watch the pros in action on television, with the PDC World Darts Championships being held in December and the BDO World Darts Championships on until Sunday.
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