Thinking Outside the Box – Maths Problem Solving Week

Every year, at the tail end of the long autumn term, all the maths sets from Year 3 through to Year 8 take a brief break from the normal syllabus an embark upon a special theme-based week of maths problem solving.

This year the theme was Stranded on a Desert Island. Either working on their own, or in small groups, they have spent the week battling through a series of very unusual challenges designed around this theme. Some of the children have learning about coordinates and scale, others perimeter and area or irregular shapes, while others have been designing rafts and complex treasure trails involving three figure bearings. With each new challenge the children have been encouraged to think for themselves and adapt as they have tried to make sense of the bizarre puzzles they have been set. This is always a very rewarding time for the children (and the teachers) because the children typically start on quite a hesitant footing, unsure how to make sense of each new challenge, but once they learn to be creative and that it is okay take a few risks and experiment – adapting their approach as they progress - they invariably start to produce some really incredible work.

Mr Shaw

Click here to see all the photographs on Flickr