PDC star Scott Williams and JDC prospect Jack Johnson were joined by celebrity maths ambassador Bobby Seagull for a special Bullseye Maths session at Alexandra Palace on Wednesday.
Bullseye Maths, in association with Vanquis, is the award-winning numeracy scheme launched by the PDC in 2022 to promote the links between the sport and maths.
A group of 25 pupils from Tudor Primary School were joined by the star trio at the home of the World Darts Championship for a special festive session.
2023/24 World Championship semi-finalist Williams – a round one winner at Alexandra Palace on Tuesday – joined Junior Darts Corporation prospect Johnson to share their experiences of maths and give darting tips with the Year Five pupils.
The session also featured maths teacher, broadcaster and writer Bobby Seagull, who is also an ambassador for National Numeracy.
“I’m so excited to be here because I’m a big darts fan – I always watch it on the TV,” he said.
“Normally children that are doing maths in the classroom, paper and pen, but this is real life maths – they really engage – and they can see that connection between what they’re doing in their head and the maths, and actually how it’s impacting them on the dartboard.
“They’re practicing the darts but also, more importantly, practicing their maths and arithmetic skills because I think with young people, you show them that maths can be applied to the real world.
“It makes it magic and come to life.”
Williams, who will continue his World Championship challenge on Tuesday against Jermaine Wattimena, said: “If I did this at school, I would have got into darts when I was ten!
“Sport was my number one but maths was my number two, so adding them together would have been huge. For me, this is incredible.
“Maths is my son’s favourite subject and it just happens that counting is my job now and this makes it easy.”
The Bullseye Maths session was delivered by the JDC Education team, and was also featured on BBC London News and BBC London Radio.
“This was a brilliant opportunity for our pupils, and several children said it was the best school trip they’d ever been on!” said Tudor Primary School Head of School Iain Dalziel.
“This was a hugely engaging way of bringing maths into a real life context for the children. They got a wonderful experience in addition to being able to apply their mental arithmetic skills in a fun, challenging way.”
Gary Horsley, the Junior Darts Corporation’s Director of Community & Education Projects, said: “This was a fantastic session to end another enjoyable year of Bullseye Maths.
“We’re grateful for the support of all the PDC players who’ve been involved this year as well as Jack Johnson.
“Having Jack, Scott Williams and Bobby Seagull with us enable us to enhance the Bullseye Maths session – and for the pupils to get to experience Alexandra Palace and visit the World Championship will be a special memory for them.”
For more details about Bullseye Maths, in association with Vanquis, please visit pdc.tv/maths.
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Images: PDC / T Lanning
