This week, we celebrated St Alban & St Stephen’s annual Maths Week.
The week was headlined by the Times Table Rockstars “Battle of the Bands”, pitting the students against the teachers. Although the teachers led throughout the week, a late rally on Thursday allowed the students to pip their teachers at the post, winning by a score of 65 to 57. Some children and staff were recognised for their excellent efforts with Mrs Tennant taking home the Teachers MVP award and Lyla Wiltshire (5H) claiming the Students award. The competition has been hard fought all week and has really helped promote Maths across all of KS2. The teachers, however, are keen to win next time around.
Maths Week has also seen the introduction of Maths Club hosted by Mr Hegarty each lunchtime. The aim of these half-hour session was to promote Maths through investigation, art and teamwork. It has been an excellent opportunity for pupils to work across year groups and for them to learn about some of Mathematics important historical figures.
Monday saw Years 5 & 6 investigating the work of Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras. They worked in groups to work out his famous theorem and even had a go a proving it themselves.
Tuesday and Wednesday saw each Year Group stretching their artistic muscles as the children used Fibonacci of Pisa’s famous sequence to design some spiral art. It was lovely to see children from across KS2 working together in our playground and using Maths to create lots of imaginative imagery.
Thursday saw Years 3 & 4 come together to play some Maths board games. While also practicing addition and subtraction within 1000, the children recognised that they were also learning skills such as teamwork, patience and sportsmanship.
Friday’s Maths Club saw the serious business of Year 5 and Year 6 attempting last year’s Herts for Learning Maths Challenge. They were tested on their General Maths and their Estimation skills and worked well together to solve various problems.
We culminated our week celebrating NSPCC Number Day. The children and staff came to school dressed in numbers, patterns and shapes and learned a little bit about the work of the NSPCC. Donations can still be made via Arbor to support their great work.