Maths Week England 2023
Bishop’s Hatfield Girls’ School joins nationwide celebrations of Mathematics for Maths Week England
Across the year groups, we celebrated Maths Week England from 13th to 18th November 2023. Our objectives this year are to raise the profile of Mathematics and to deepen connections between the subject and real life as well as to change the conversation about Maths to be more positive that inspires students to think about a mathematical career. Our aims are also to make Maths more accessible and enjoyable for people who thought it was an elitist subject for ‘clever’ people: To ‘love and enjoy’ is a worthy goal!
Every day of the week kicked off with a daily mathematical quiz or puzzle in which students were able to put their knowledge and skill to practice. After form times the riddles were shared across the school and kept students entertained during break and lunch times. Rumours were spread that even parents and carers got to solve some of the puzzles as students shared them at home.
Students across the Key Stages 3 and 4 enjoyed the themed Maths lessons: Year 7s engaged in Code Cracking which was inspired by Ada Lovelace. A murder mystery with a twist! Year 8s applied their mathematical knowledge in problem solving following in the footsteps of the great Mathematician Katherine Johnson. Year 9s experienced the basics of architecture. Whilst the houses built, measured and analysed might have not done the “Queen of Curves” (Zaha Hadid) full justice, students enjoyed the experience and were able to apply their knowledge and discuss how this could help them in real life for instance when decorating their own room or home in future. Year 10s engaged with ‘The Beauty of Maths’. Whilst some classes used technology and graphing tools to create digital images, others created Curve Stitches with pen and paper.
During the week, the students engaged in many competition such as: – “Who owns the fish” (Year 7) – A poster competition of their favourite female Mathematician (Key Stage 3) – Desmos Art Competition with a them of “The Beauty of Maths” (Year 10) – creating pictures that were constructed from Mathematical graphs and functions. The winners have been selected as: 1st Polly C – Solar System 2nd Hania B – Maths 3D 3rd Mia J and Kitty B – ‘Bob and Betty’
We hope you all enjoyed this year’s Maths Week England!
Ms T.Hurley