KICKING a footy while calculating the angle of a conversion, was not what Isabella Aloisi had in mind for her year 8 mathematics class on Monday.
The Berkeley Vale Campus student joined more than 150 indigenous students from across Newcastle, the Hunter and Central Coast on July 1 for the University of Newcastle's Aboriginal Numeracy Gala Day.
"We learned how to kick the footy, get good height on it and we had to measure how far back we stepped to kick the ball," Isabella said.
She said initially she was worried it would be a "not-so-fun time" filled with numbers when she saw a mathematics worksheet, but the day exceeded her expectations.
"When I saw the maths book I thought oh no, but as soon as we got into the activities - it's been really fun. We all worked together as a team to get the measurements," she said.
Mixing numbers with rugby league at the Newcastle Knights' home ground, students had the chance to implement numbers in real-life situations with the help of NRLW player Tamika Upton and NRL player Adam Elliott as well as UON PE students.
UON secondary PE education student Lucy Spain said it was an opportunity to find ways to engage with students.
"Especially just finding that connection for subjects that they might not enjoy," she said.
From creating teams using the salary cap to measuring the width and length of the footy field and monitoring heart rates, the day combined numbers with physical activity and engagement with students.
The University of Newcastle's Cultural Capability Partner, Jake MacDonald, said the uni is committed to all its students graduating with a knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, people and culture.
"The numeracy gala day is all about building relationships, understanding diverse perspectives and giving our future teachers the skills they need when working with Aboriginal students," he said.
"It's really breaking down rugby league to understand that it's constant mathematics, and we can draw the skills of that and how it relates directly to mathematics,just using something that we love which in this case is rugby league."
