Magic of Maths

The basis of Magic of Maths was to encourage children to get involved in various mathematical situations through activities which support and encourage lots of learning, and to have fun doing it.

Aims

The aim is to invite pupils from local state primaries to Westbourne to benefit from some enrichment activities led by Maths Specialist teachers who love their subject and want to share some of its ‘magic’. The activities are extra-curricular and intended to boost the excitement and interest of pupils who enjoy maths. Pupils do not need to be good at maths to attend.

Background

The event has always taken place on a Saturday morning for around 2 hours. Each year around 20-30 pupils attend. Last year we had an amazing 36 pupils – and it was a very buzzing atmosphere, and the local paper featured the event.

The event is lead by Westbourne's own teachers.

Resources

The yearly-run Magic of Maths takes place over 2-hours on a Saturday morning and is lead by Westbourne maths department staff in Westbourne House School classrooms where math lessons, during the day, would normally be.

Impact

Many skills developed, and lots of excitement is created when the pupils come to Magic of Maths. The various activities planned for the students promotes positive learning as well as guides the students into a confident mindset about the countless aspects of the subject.

3 activities are planned, led by different teachers. The first one tends to be number tricks, to emphasis that these tricks are not magic, but have mathematical patterns or reasoning behind them. Then a logic puzzle which can be acted out. Pupils love this as they dress up. Then we calm down for a code/deciphering activity – normally PigPen code. For this a booklet is produced. The last activity is shape based – building polyhedral (3D shapes) from cocktail sticks and mini-marshmallows.

Pupil Involvement

Each year around 20-30 pupils attend. This year we achieved 24 pupils from 6 different schools in the local area (not including our own).

Frequency

Annual event