Bank worker Brie McAuley is helping youngsters at her old primary school improve their maths skills-just as she was helped by the same business volunteer scheme when she was a pupil there.

As a pupil at English Martyrs Roman Catholic Primary School in St Mark Street, Brie had a Number Partner, a business volunteer from a bank who helped her to improve her maths.

Fast forward around a dozen years and Brie, who is now on track for a successful banking career herself with Commerzbank, is back at English Martyr as a Number Partner herself visiting every Wednesday at lunchtime to help Roxanne Ifill, aged nine, and Ignacia Bolter, aged 10, both in Year 5.

Number Partners was conceived and developed by education charity,

Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership.

Volunteers spend half an hour a week playing simple maths games with pupils to encourage children to think of numbers as fun and thus improve their numeracy.

“I remember being in a group of about three students and playing number games, the way it is now” said. Brie.

“ Our partners were from Dresdner Kleinwort bank and one of the things that stands out in my mind is when we all visited the bank’s offices for the day. I think having a Number Partner made me aware of my maths skills and the possibility of a career that suited them.”

Brie went on to study Maths, Biology and Chemistry at ‘A’-Level and had secured a place to study Maths and Financial Accounting at City University when an opportunity to work at Commerzbank came up.

Bronagh Nugent, Head Teacher at English Martyrs has nothing but praise for the Numbers Partners.

“Anything to give the children extra help so they progress is fantastic” she says. “Quality time with an adult role model helps them enormously.”