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Press releases : Special video lesson goes live as part of award-winning census resources for schools

A special video lesson for primary schools presented by the National Statistician, Professor Sir Ian Diamond, is now available as part of this year’s award-winning Let’s Count! campaign.

In the lesson Sir Ian, along with other Office for National Statistics (ONS) experts, explores the usefulness of census data in our everyday lives and looks ahead to our first population announcement coming this summer.

The video is the latest in a range of fun and engaging teaching resources created by iChild and the ONS. The programme brings census data to life in the classroom and since it launched in January this year, over 1,800 schools across England and Wales have registered to take part.

Many schools are now planning their own Let’s Count! day, when children will be challenged to count something topical in their playground, school or community.

For instant access to the resources, schools can simply register for this year’s programme at https://letscount.ichild.co.uk (opens in a new tab) 

Resources include five easy-to-use lessons which take children on a journey from collecting the data through to analysing and publishing the findings. Each lesson is available in English and Welsh and is suitable for both classroom and remote learning.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond said: “It was a pleasure to record this lesson for children – I hope like me, they are inspired by statistics. Last year, more than 9,000 primary schools across England and Wales took part in Let’s Count! Through these schools, over 2.2 million children and their parents learnt about the importance of the census. It’s great to see the programme proving popular again this year and I’m looking forward to hearing about the interesting data they can collect about their school and their local area.”

Phil Bird, CEO of Family & Education/iChild said: “We are delighted to launch this new video lesson with the ONS and Professor Sir Ian Diamond as part of Let’s Count! 2022. This is a great way for children to learn about the important upcoming population announcement. A free worksheet to accompany the video has also been developed, allowing pupils to design their ‘Perfect Place’.

“Let’s Count 2022 supports numeracy, history, geography and writing skills. The free resources use census results as a stimulus and can be personalised to a school’s local area. Children will learn about the importance of the census results and how they support local services. We encourage primary schools who would like to take part and view this great video lesson to register today!”

St. Giles Catholic Primary School in Stoke-on-Trent took part in Let’s Count! 2021 and will be doing so again this year. Kate Haines, Maths Lead, said: “The children found the whole census process fascinating last year. They loved the idea that maths and census data could have a real impact on their own local area and their own everyday lives. They really enjoyed using the lesson resources provided and the counter cats were very popular across all year groups! We are very excited about taking part again this year.”

Register here: https://letscount.ichild.co.uk/ (opens in a new tab)