Maths May-hem!

On Friday 1 May excited pupils from Excel Academy, Biddulph High School, Clayton Hall Business & Language College, Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy and Madeley High School joined NULC for Maths May-hem challenges!

Maths May-hem was planned by a group of trainee teachers from Staffordshire University, who are currently studying for their Post Graduate Certificate in Education (Mathematics). The PGCE students designed a range of fun but challenging activities to enhance the pupil’s knowledge and interest in maths. Pupils were split into groups and the activities were put in different rooms. Each group then worked in competition to gain a maximum of 50 points per room.

The various activities included a ‘Problem Solving Room’, where pupils had to test their spatial awareness skills using coloured cubes to construct objects in a certain order. The ‘Statistics and Probability Room’ took pupils to a day at the races. Whilst there were no over-sized hats required, pupils were asked to use their maths knowledge to work out the different horse’s probabilities of winning.

The Year 9 and 10 pupils were surprised by how much fun the ‘Algebra Room’ was in which they took part in a fast-paced relay race that challenged their ideas and also taught them when certain equations may not be needed. The ‘Standard Challenge & Super Challenge Room’ was described by one pupil as: “fun and energetic!”. They were given the choice to stick at a standard challenge or gamble for a super challenge to gain more points.

All of the challenges were varied to strengthen pupils overall knowledge on maths. Abigail Hancock, a Year 10 pupil from Excel Academy, said: “There was a variety of fun puzzles and problems to solve in each session. It has been very interesting and I really enjoyed the competition.”

Everyone then gathered into the auditorium to a final maths based treasure hunt. The groups worked in competition and were given instructions to start on a certain problem. Once the team had solved the problem, the answer would then be a clue to find the next problem! Rebecca Massey, a pupil from Ormiston Sir Stanley Matthews Academy, enjoyed the afternoon: “It has been both challenging and fun, overall I’ve had a fantastic day.”

The winning teams, who came in joint first place, were Madeley High School and Clayton Hall Business and Language College. The schools look forward to retaining their title at next year’s event!

Ineke Drijfhout, a Year 10 pupil from Madeley High School, summed up her day; “The day was fun and enjoyable and the staff were all really nice, helpful and encouraging.”

If you would like to book a taster session, or be involved in our next school challenge, please contact Gareth & Tara on 01782 254 347 or email schools@nulc.ac.uk