Maths Day @ Hacton

On the final day of the half term for pupils, Hacton was abuzz with all things shape for its very own Maths day! Benches, fences and playgrounds were filled with mathematical challenges before the day had even started and it was great to see so many parents and carers attempting these with their children. Every year group then got fully stuck in with treasure hunts and challenges, combining a whole range of subjects including Art, Science, DT and English! To top it all of we raised over £300 for the PTA 😀

Let’s take a look at what activities each year group took part in…

Nursery
For Maths Day in Nursery, we have had a fun packed day doing a range of activities that were all related to shape. Firstly, we listened to shape songs and carried out a shape hunt to look for shapes in our environment. We couldn’t believe just how many shapes we could see! Recently, we have been reading the book ‘Oliver’s Fruit Salad’ so as part of Maths days, we ate a delicious fruit salad with all of the fruit cut into different shapes, which we identified and talked about. There were also some art themed activities linked to shape: we looked at pictures painted by Kandinsky and created our own pictures using different shapes and lines as well as creating stained glass window shapes, which looked amazing when the light shines through them!

Reception
In Reception, children spent part of the day completing a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed number hunt. Everyone worked together to find and count how many pieces of fruit were eaten; they then made a note of the correct number on their clipboards. Children were also challenged to work in small groups to use real life 3D shapes to create a bug hotel. We discovered that cuboids and cylinders were the best shapes to use! 

Year 1
Year 1 had fun discovering 1, 2, 5 and 10 times table questions on the playground. They also enjoyed making their very own 2D shape hats, which were proudly worn for the rest of the day.  Making their own cubes and cuboids, the children showed resilience and perseverance.

Year 2
Year 2 had a busy but enjoyable day, celebrating Maths Day on Thursday. They started off the day making the most of the glorious sunshine and heading out to the playground to participate in a Maths Treasure Hunt, working in pairs to find the clues,they then had to solve mathematical calculations to unscramble the mystery word. The children enjoyed being able to explore maths in a practical way.

Throughout the day, the children had three challenges to answer in the hope of winning a prize at the end of the day. The children enjoyed estimating how many steps it would take Miss Hornsby to walk from her car to her office; how many school dinners were ordered in Year 2 yesterday and what would be the combined age of the all staff in Year 2!
 
We carried on with our Maths theme into Literacy, where the children created Shape Poems.  The children used their Literacy skills to create some great rhyming poems and designed some very colourful shape characters to go alongside their fabulous poetry.

 
In the afternoon, the children were set a Shape Challenge by the teachers.  The children had to create their own pentomino animals, for the Hacton Pentomino Zoo. Everyone showed great determination to complete the animals with, some children setting their own challenge to think out the box and create their own animals with the pentomino shapes.  

Year 3
Year 3 thoroughly enjoyed Maths Day last Thursday. Their first challenge was to create their very own Mr Men and Little Miss characters by combining their artistic skills with their knowledge of 3D shapes. Sticking with the combination of maths and art, the children used their 2D shape knowledge to design an abstract portrait - there are definitely some aspiring Picassos in this year group! Finally, they completed their greenhouses demonstrating their shape knowledge this time by combining it with their DT skills. A great day was had by all!

Year 4

During Maths Day, Year 4 worked in table groups to complete lots of estimating challenges. We then went outside to try and solve the different word problems that were scattered around the playground. In the afternoon each team was set the challenge to build the highest tower out of straws; each team had to think carefully about what shapes would work the best to make their structure the strongest. Well done to the winners! 

Year 5
Year 5 used a huge range of mathematical skills to build their very own theme park. They were given a budget, sizes of the rides and strict instructions on what to include. Using their knowledge of adding and subtracting, they worked as a team to calculate the cost to  build their theme park. They also needed to use their understanding of area to build each ride to the correct size, not forgetting paths, bins and toilet facilities too.  There were some extravagant parks built and all children enjoyed taking part in the challenge.

Year 6
In Year 6, our day started off with problem solving. Moving around the playground to find new  challenges, there was a hum of deep discussion as the children worked out how to best solve the problems they faced. Recalling the properties of 3D shapes, the children went on to make them using matchsticks and plasticine and then later used estimation skills to solve a number of challenge questions.  Much fun was had arranging pentominoes and working out angles in letters.  The children had a blast!

P-HIC
We had a great day full of Maths in the PHIC.  We started the day with a discussion about all of the different places we go to where we can see numbers - we were surprised with just how many we came up with! After, we learnt some new Maths games and had fun teaching them to each other, demonstrating their mathematical thinking and skills. Later on, we created some Maths Art, making sunflowers using 2D shapes and creating sunburst pictures using a circle and lines.

Well done and thank you to the Maths team and teachers for organising such a brilliant day!