Able and talented maths pupils in Year 6 are currently attending  weekly enrichment classes in the maths department at CCSC. The pupils have been nominated to attend the sessions, designed to help them achieve level 6 in their SATS tests, by their class teachers.

The focus this half term is algebra. A typical session begins with the pupils reviewing their marked work from the previous week; delighting in the many positive comments and relishing the new challenges posed. The pacey lessons begin with some fun starter tasks and eager hands go up to give answers almost immediately. The new content is delivered in a very engaging style with contexts to appeal to our young visitors.

Last week the topic was 'collecting like terms' and the theme of  'algebra stories' really helped the pupils to understand the concepts. The conversations in the room were punctuated with some suprising things for a maths lesson including: apples, bananas, daleks, elephants, xboxes, yoghurts and zylophones but before long the year 6 pupils were able to simplify challenging algebra expressions. Some team tasks encouraged pupils from each primary school to work together on discussing answers and solving problems before sharing their solutions with the whole class.

The children made excellent progress in the lesson which ended with them enthusiastically summing up their learning ready to report back to their primary class teachers.

The year 6 classes are delivered by mathematics specialist and executive headteacher, Mrs L Jackson.

The primary schools involved in the maths enrichment project are: Chesterton, Churchfields, Springhead, Bursley Academy, Bradwell, St Chad's and Crackley Bank.

Mrs C Tilt

Head of Mathematics