News

This term Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form Outreach hosted a series of Primary Mathematics Masterclasses in collaboration with the Royal Institution at the Inspiration Teaching School Hub in Norwich. Returning for a second year, the masterclasses were a great opportunity for primary pupils to experience maths in a different context.

Across a series of four Friday afternoon sessions, 36 students from 17 Norfolk Primary schools joined us at the Inspiration Teaching School Hub in Norwich to learn about a variety of enriching mathematics topics.

Amy Hooker from the Royal Institution delivered our first session introducing students to the programme with an exciting activity covering lines and curves. The students were introduced to parabola graphs and where these occur in everyday life. The session concluded with the students creating their own parabolas by curve-stitching straight lines.

A student from Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form said:

"Taking part in the masterclasses was a really enjoyable experience, it was very rewarding seeing the students enjoying the session that we had planned. I have gained a lot of experience from the masterclasses and an insight into a potential career in teaching."

The other three sessions have been delivered by year 12 students from Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form, who have used their own knowledge of maths to create inspiring and engaging activities for the visiting year 4 students. This has included estimating pi by measuring circles, considering forces when designing rockets and exploring Sierpinski’s Triangle.

Tom Marjoram, Maths Outreach Lead said:

"We are really pleased that we have been able to bring the Primary masterclasses to Norwich for another year. It is so special to see the primary and sixth form students sharing an enthusiasm for maths. Both sets of students benefit hugely from the experience and we are already looking forward to next year."

Allowing primary students to see older students enthusiastic and engaged in maths is important to inspire them to study the subject further. It has been great to see the interactions between the year 4 students and Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form students throughout the series. We would like to thank all the students for their ongoing commitment and commendable attitudes towards the sessions.

We have thoroughly enjoyed delivering the programme again this year and look forward to hosting our Secondary Mathematics Masterclass series in the summer term.