A series of workshops to demystify Maths have been launched for parents at Newington Community Primary in Ramsgate.
The successful first Mathematics Mastery session saw a strong turnout of mums and dads whose children are from all age groups at the school.
Delighted with the response to the in-school initiative, Newington has announced there will be more workshops through the academic year.
These will dive deeper into the multi-faceted subject to ensure parents feel well-equipped to support their children in their mathematical journey at Newington.
Parents got the opportunity to be hands on with the different learning manipulatives (practical apparatus) available including bead strings, multi-link cubes, dice, base ten number blocks known as dienes, and place value counters.
They explored a range of Maths activities that face children from Early Years to year 6 – each challenge allowed parents to explore conceptual understanding that underpins mathematical learning.
To help explain some of the tasks, children from Key Stage 2 were on hand to become mini teachers, facilitating activities and promoting mathematical discussions.
Assistant Head Teacher Kayleigh Stanley and teacher Jo Jarman, who are joint Maths leads at the school, explained the new Maths journey that is underway and how excited they are to be leading a new programme that epitomises learning at Newington.
As part of the workshop they introduced the dimensions of depth which are fundamental to the Mathematics Mastery programme.
The teachers said the first session was “very enjoyable and feedback had been extremely encouraging. It is amazing how much insight and understanding they gained from just one session.”
Parents’ comments included “it is nice to get hands on with Maths”, “I’m looking forward to creating my own manipulatives at home with my child”, and “it makes me realise that Maths can be fun.”
One parent who admitted to feeling ‘rubbish at Maths’, commented on how their confidence has built as a result of the workshop.
Head Teacher Hannah Tudor said: “Helping demystify the subject for parents and encouraging them to explore and enjoy Maths not only helps broaden their horizons but crucially it enables them to engage more fully with an important part of their child’s education.”