On Thursday morning parents of years 5 and 6 pupils gathered nervously in the studio, the fear of maths looming in the air and the word ‘chunking’ being muttered underneath ones breathe! Mr Anderson only added to this despair, when he informed parents they would be sitting a TEST!

However, the morning did not continue with fear and dread, but several lessons in the methods we use to teach children, in years 5 and 6, the 4 operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division).

Starting with a game of bingo to warm up the brains, we then explained and modelled column addition and subtraction, followed by the grid method for multiplication and then the dreaded chunking method for division. It was great to hear that so many parents now felt enabled to support their child with the methods we use in school.

The session ended with exploration of the apps readily available to our pupils on the Ipads as well as a few brain challenges, where the taught methods could be explored further.

The morning appeared to be a great success and I now look forward to delivering several more throughout the school.

Thank you to all the parents who supported this workshop and please keep your eyes peeled for future math workshop dates.

Mrs Evans