Now we can all get together again in schools, why not put on a fantastic maths week for your school + their families to enjoy!
You can run a Festival of Triangles at any time of year.
So… what happens at Festival of Triangles?
Festival of Triangles is a triangle-themed maths week for the whole school that leads up to a community family event finale that everyone’s invited to!
During the week, a series of teacher-led, class-based activities build up excitement. Children will make triangular bunting, look at the shapes and maths in everyday life, and (very important this bit) make tetrahedrons from drinking straws.*
On the day itself, you set up the school hall with a range of ‘zones’ for children and parents/carers to enjoy a range of mathematical craft, colouring and constructing activities. One very special zone will involve using all of the pupil’s individual tetrahedrons to assemble a huge Sierpinski tetrahedron!
There’s scope to vary and add as much as you like – some schools just use the ideas we suggest, and others add a whole range of extra activities. Your family finale event can be after school, at the weekend, or whenever suits your school best.
And why triangles?
We chose triangles because they are accessible to everyone. In a country where a lot of adults are anxious about maths, nobody is scared of a triangle. Triangles lend themselves to craft, and to pattern making – and they turn up all over the place. The more you look, the more you see that maths is everywhere.
For teachers, it’s enriching to focus on just one idea for a week – and to think about how children’s understanding of this one idea develops as they move up the school. There is masses in the curriculum about triangles, and when there’s a buzz around triangles all week, children are inspired to greater curiosity about them.
All this means that you can use your Festival of Triangles to teach underlying maths skills, to meet curriculum aims, to think more deeply about your own subject knowledge, to welcome parents into school to join in their child’s learning ,and to give parents, staff and children a chance to enjoy doing maths together in an informal environment.
For even more information about Festival of Triangles, how to get involved and all pricing, please click here.
*Read our Plastic Straws Policy