Darth Vader, Buzz Lightyear and Snow White join maths lessons at Newington primary

Adding a bit of Disney to maths lessons

Colourful characters from the world of Disney were all part of a special maths fun afternoon for children and families at Newington Community Primary School.

Pupils and staff dressed in an impressive array of costumes from princesses to pirates, spacemen to Snow White – and Darth Vader, Star Wars storm troopers, Spiderman, Robin Hood, Buzz Lightyear, Mickey and Minnie Mouse were also on show.

The school choir, with music teacher Warwick Eldred, carried the Disney theme on through the afternoon with a series of songs performed from the main stage while pupils and families tackled a series of Maths challenges.

A series of game stations were laid out around the hall and were packed throughout.

Games included creating a monster using tangram shapes; constructing a playhouse using play dough and straw, colouring in a picture of a princess by rolling the dice to choose the right colours; a maths space station; aiming ping pong balls into numbered cups in sequence; Jenga and a Rapunzel tower game.

A Toy Story photo booth, a raffle and refreshments added to the afternoon fun.

Teacher Freja Coleman co-ordinated the event. She said: “The children were so engaged with the different activities available and it was great to see families and friends playing together.

“It was lovely to see the older children sensibly explaining how to play certain games and the younger children challenging themselves, showing perseverance and determination.

“Maths underpins everything we do and playing games is a perfect way to practise basic life skills like counting and logical reasoning, and this is really easy to do at home.”

Head teacher Cliff Stokes added: “The hall was packed and buzzing with energy. It was fantastic to see so many people of all ages really involved with the games and challenges.

“We always make our sure our children’s education experiences have something extra to reinforce whatever topic they are being taught.

“The maths challenge was perfect. It was very well supported by the Newington community, and there were some brilliant costumes on show from our pupils and our brilliant staff who always get right behind events like this.”