Maths Week Scotland

Maths Week Scotland is a brand new initiative set up by the Scottish Government to “help everyone in our nation see maths positively” and it took place in the week commencing Monday 11th September.

Being the School of Mathematics and Statistics we got involved, with five PhD students from our School visiting four Primary Schools and one Secondary School to promote maths to the pupils. PhD student Suzy Whoriskey explains further:

“Anna, Eilidh, Pete and I visited the four Primary Schools over the course of three days - exhausting work! We worked with P4s and P6s (ages 8-10), introducing ourselves and our PhD projects, challenging them to think of a career or field that doesn't include maths in some aspect (we succeeded here!) and finally playing a 'Maths Relay Challenge' with the pupils. The excitement levels were sky high, a lot of hysterics and running and shouting, and it went down really well with both our pupils and their teachers. One class in particular were so busy with the maths relay that they missed the bell for playtime and moaned "Nooo!" when their teacher told them to stop and get outside.

Overall, it was a great success. We all thoroughly enjoyed going out visiting the schools and got some great feedback from the teachers.”