At the end of every half term, saltash.net community school’s Maths department leads a Maths workshop for year 5 and 6 Gifted and Talented pupils from all its local primary partner schools.
The workshops, run by Key Stage 3 co-ordinators Heather Crook and Jennie Benzie, offer the youngsters the opportunity to explore and discover Mathematics that they would not normally meet in the primary curriculum. Topics covered so far this academic year have included, binary numbers, platonic solids and Euler’s formula, Eulerian Graphs and A-level differentiation. The topics are introduced in a fun and exciting way, which promotes higher level thinking and questioning from the children. They are encouraged to work together in small groups and discuss their learning and ideas.
Maths teacher, Mrs Benzie, said, “The children are very excited about coming to saltash.net, and enjoy the sessions. They always leave with a smile on their faces and are keen to share their new found Mathematics knowledge with their classes and parents.”
Comments received from the primary pupils have been very positive:
“Every Friday when it’s Maths masterclass, I always look forward to it because I want to find out the exciting new challenges.”
“Every lesson I go to teaches me so much and I have such a good time. It pushes me to do my best.”
“I find it challenging, but I learn something new and it makes me proud.”
“The best bit is finding out I have done some A level!”