Leeds school pupils swap pen and paper for marshmallows and spaghetti on Number Day

Each year on February 1, hundreds of primary schools across the country opt to take part in the maths inspired activity day to raise money for the NSPCC.

Last year the primary school raised £197 for the charity and hopes to cross the £200 mark this year.

In Year Five, one class used maths and engineering skills to build marshmallow spaghetti towers.

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Shagufta Rafique, teacher at the school, said: “I think it focuses them because they’re all engaged.”

The hands-on style of learning is beneficial for pupils who have English as a second language, some of whom are new to the country.

Thirty-nine foreign languages are spoken as a first language among the school’s 540 pupils.

Ms Rafique said: “For [those] students especially they feel like they’re part of the activity more because everyone can join in. Language doesn’t differentiate them.”

Student Iqra Ali, nine, was among those who took part in the activities yesterday.

Iqra, who wants to be an engineer, said: “Number Day is fun because everyone can just have fun with the maths.

“In normal maths class we still do stuff like this. We use play dough for practising fractions. It makes it easier.”

Another Year Five class used area and perimeter skills to draw their dream zoo.

Meanwhile, other activities held at the school yesterday included online quizzes and a maths treasure hunt around the school.

Kara Jordan, maths lead at the school, said: “We do maths everyday, we obviously do the numeracy element but weave in problem solving and reasoning as well.”

Ava Johnson, 10, said: “I sometimes enjoy maths but I love number day. It makes it more fun. I just really like the drawing.”

Maths Lead Kara Jordan has worked at the school for four years and coordinates the activities for Number Day.

Elsewhere in the city, Hawksworth Wood Primary also took part in number day with staff competing in maths based challenges during assembly.

Maths Lead Mr Wright said: “We loves Maths here at Hawksworth Wood and are always excited to find new opportunities to develop the children’s interest and understanding.”

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TEST YOURSELF:

Ms Jordan shared some maths questions to challenge our readers:

Year 1 - My number is larger than 15 but less than 19, what number could it be?

Year 2 - James has 20 sweets and shares them between 5 friends. Lily has 20 sweets and shares them between 10 friends. Whose friends will receive the most sweets? How do you know?

Year 3 - “8x8 is greater than 4x8,” said Mr Owen. Do you agree? Can you prove your answer?

Year 4 - There are 8 classes in a school. Each class has 28 children. How many children are there in school altogether?

Year 5 - Pencils come in boxes of 75. A school bought 280 boxes. Rulers come in packs of 56. A school bought 720 packs. How many more rulers were ordered than pencils?

Year 6 - True or False? 6,574 x 17 = 17 x 6,574

The following questions are from old SATs papers.

Year Two:

1) Complete the number sentence: 3 x 8 = 2 x ?

2) Every toy in a shop costs 25p. Jack buys six toys. How much change does Jack get from £2?

Year Six:

3) A toy shop orders 11 boxes of marbles. Each box contains 6 bags of marbles. Each bag contains 45 marbles. How many marbles does the shop order in total?