Canning Town primary school pupils finished an international schools project that saw them go head-to-head with bankers in mental arithmetic.

St Luke’s Primary School in Ruscoe Road have been exploring what it means to be a global citizen by partnering up with schools in Ethiopia and Burma.

The three week project included Design & Technology tasks and Maths activities to extend basic skills and to raise money to fully sponsor six children in the partner schools.

Claire Kula, citizenship leader, said: “We wanted to build on the enthusiasm following the Olympics and revisit the values of the Olympics and the Paralympics.

“Citizenship this year has put our pupils in challenging situations and they have had to cope with moving around in a wheelchair, wearing blindfolds, slings and ear protectors in order to make them reflect on personal resilience, challenge, respect and determination to overcome disability and promote diversity.”

A team from Barclays bank came in to work with Year Six on maths skills and help younger pupils make cakes for the community,

Daniel Fyn, from Barclays said, “It’s been a brilliant day. The pupils were inspirational in their questions about my job and I’ve learnt a lot about education and how skilful the teachers are in this school.”

Joseph Langton from Barclays had his work cut out when competing against Year Six in mental arithmetic.

Samuel Sawyer, one of Joseph’s competitors, said, “They may work in a bank but I’m much quicker at mental arithmetic than them.”

Joseph said: ‘There are some incredibly sharp pupils with a genuine appetite to learn. I also took part in a very moving memorial service as well.”

David Huntingford, Maths Leader of St. Luke’s, said: “It’s been really helpful to have professionals showing how important Maths is in the real world. It has been a very helpful community project.”