PUPILS of Limerick’s Presentation Primary School were having fun and making it count on a visit to the bank.
And they were in the company of someone who knows all about tricky arithmetic and balancing the books, Mayor John Moran.
As part of Business in the Community Ireland’s (BITCI) Time to Count programme, the pupils visited Bank of Ireland’s O’Connell Street branch in Limerick City.
The Time to Count programme, which began in 2016, aims to build children’s confidence and conceptual understanding around numbers, and support them in mathematical problem solving.
BITCI runs this nationwide programme by pairing companies with a third classes in a local DEIS school, and sees company volunteers deliver 10 sessions with the class using maths games, activities, and challenges.
This is the first year of collaboration between Presentation Primary School and Bank of Ireland Limerick, and saw 33 students paired with 11 volunteers.
Andrea Lazenby Simpson, BITCI head of education said: “We are delighted to have the endorsement of Mayor of Limerick John Moran as he is thoroughly committed to initiatives that improve educational outcomes and raise career expectations of DEIS pupils.”
“In 2025, BITCI celebrates its 25th anniversary and as leaders in sustainability and social inclusion, the partnering of corporate volunteers with local DEIS schools with the intent of addressing education disadvantage and achieve greater equity of opportunities remain vital to BITCI’s social inclusion objectives.”
School principal Barbara McNamara explained that the “programme has really benefited the pupil’s understanding and engagement in maths and helped develop their social skills and self-confidence”.
“Seeing the relationships develop between the pupils and the volunteers is really rewarding and all the pupils look forward to when the volunteers come in.”
The Time to Count programme is funded by An Post and the Department of Education.
