All of our maths workshops for secondary schools in Scotland have been carefully designed to put into context and actively promote the keystones of the Curriculum for Excellence – as well, of course, as supporting the push to Make Maths Count. Tapping into pupils’ own creativity, our unashamedly fun workshops engage, motivate and, crucially, challenge the children and young people we work with, providing them with meaningful experiences and outcomes.

Over half a million children and young people have taken part in one of our Creative Maths workshops. 

Our Maths workshops for Secondary Schools are available as both In-person sessions and Live streamed workshops.

Perfect for Maths Week Scotland - 25 September - 1 October 2023

Download the Secondary Maths workshops leaflet here

"One of the best STEM Events that I have ever booked. The students found the workshops extremely interesting, engaging and fun. One pupil asked, “Miss, can we do this every Thursday?” Park Mains High School, Erskine

 

Maths Week Scotland 2023

This year, Maths Week Scotland will take place during the 25 September - 1 October 2023 and if you would like to celebrate with a high energy, imaginative, fun and Creative Maths day for all pupils to take part in, then take a look at what's on offer below!

Funding

The Edinburgh Mathematical Society grant scheme - The Schools Enrichment Fund, exists to provide financial support for mathematical activities which fall outwith the normal school curriculum. There are no closing dates but early submission of applications is strongly encouraged. Find out more over at www.ems.ac.uk/funding/schools-funding

Maths Week Scotland School Workshops

Maths Week Scotland School Workshops

Workshop Options for Summer Term 2023 & Maths Week Scotland 2023

Live Streamed Maths Workshops

Secondary Maths Workshops

In-Person Maths Workshops

Maths Workshops Secondary Schools

 

In-Person Workshops

CSI: Maths 

A challenging mystery to engage your students and get them thinking logically

There are two CSI: Maths programmes to choose from. Each can accommodate up to 30 pupils at a time, takes between 1 - 2 lessons and can be differentiated across S1 - S5 ...

CSI: Michaela Maths 

If it hadn’t been for the quick thinking of one of her teammates, Michaela Maths, one of Britain’s most promising young athletes, would be dead – slain by an unseen hand! The police are baffled by the crime and want the pupils’ help in solving it. Having been introduced to the crime, the suspects and their possible motives, students will work in teams on a carousel probing a range of mathematical skills. Taken together, these lead to the suspects being eliminated, one by one – until, if all the calculations are correct, the criminal is unmasked.

Exploring: additive and multiplicative reasoning; recognition and application of number patterns; mental and written calculations; manipulation of 2D shapes; calculating areas and/or volumes; presenting and interpreting data.

Duration: 1 – 2 lessons, depending on how many classes

Suitable For: up to 30 pupils at a time

"The maths staff were unanimously of the opinion that this was one of the best maths workshops we have had. Jackson was an excellent presenter... his enthusiasm for maths was infectious and I particularly liked his emphasis on looking at the wider benefits of developing maths skills.  i.e. identifying patterns, seeing that maths isn’t just numbers, problem-solving. We will definitely look to be using you again in future."  Notre Dame School, Cobham

CSI: Bake Off

All is not well in the world of the Bake Off – one of the judges, Saul Pinewood, has had food poisoning – and he knows it wasn’t an accident! He’s narrowed the field down to six suspects – and hopes that pupils can use their understanding of fractions, percentages and measurements to help him take the final step.

Exploring: collecting, collating, presenting and interpreting data; mean, median and mode; fractiles and percentiles.

Suitable for: up to 30 pupils at a time.

Duration: 1 – 1½ hours, depending on how many classes

"An absolutely fantastic day. The pupils that took part were fully engaged through the entire time Jackson was working with them. The enthusiasm for problem solving and maths was obvious from the pupils, and there have already been requests for another visit!” St Mungo’s Academy, Glasgow

 

Number Patterns: The Bunker

A fast-paced workshop contextualising sequencing and making connections between maths and other subjects

At the heart of maths, of course, lies the ability to identify, analyse and predict patterns. so, inspired by the work of Alan Turing and his fellow mathematicians at Bletchley Park during World War II, The Bunker is based in cryptology – the writing and reading of codes. Appealing to all age and ability ranges, The Bunker has a simple premise. Working in teams, and at their own pace, students need to identify as closely as possible the location of an Enemy Radio Transmitter by cracking a series of increasingly fiendish numeric, geometric and semiotic ciphers. The more codes they crack, the more precisely they’ll be able to pin the Transmitter down.

The Bunker has been so successful over the years that we've now developed the most challenging version so far (for those who wish to take it!). Calling on participants to manipulate numbers, geometrics and abstract symbols, it's ideal for high-ability mathematicians - and provides a perfect way of demonstrating just how far maths can take you!

Exploring (according to year group and time): number relationships, empirical thinking, properties of 2D shapes, sequences and patterns, Rebus codes, Caesar Shifts, Key words and semiotics. 

Suitable for: up to 30 pupils at a time

Duration: 2 lessons – half a day

"The students were constantly challenged and the puzzles drew from a wide range of mathematical areas. Thanks for the hard work, I’ll be sure to use As Creatives again in the future!” Archbishop Beck Sports College

 

The Priorities Game 

Working in teams -  and responding to change - to put maths in context

This thought provoking workshop sees students working in teams to create a series of budgets designed to fund an exciting new community initiative. The sting in the tail, though, is that each team will represent a different interest group, with, of course, different priorities. And whether the students are representing other young people of their own age, local businesses or police officers, they’ll have to bear those priorities in mind as they put maths in context by putting together “wish lists” based on limited budgets. They’ll be given the prices of some popular items (other costings being available on request!) and will be supported throughout by a structured planning scaffold - but they’ll also have to continually review their decisions in the light of rapidly changing events. At the end of the day, however, only one budget can be implemented - and it’ll be the power of teams’ final presentations that determines the outcome!

Exploring: maths in context, additive reasoning, multiplicative reasoning, fractions, percentages, teamwork, oracy

Duration: 2 lessons (the activity can be repeated several times in a single day)

Suitable For: KS3/KS4 / S1 - S5 (up to 30 students at a time)

 

Murderous Maths 

Interactive problem solving for up to 180 S1 - S3 pupils (with follow-up workshops for up to 90)

It’s exactly 100 years to the day since the grisly demise of Puffing Billy – and this unique workshop allows up to 180 pupils from KS3 attempt to crack the case at the same time. After everyone’s been introduced to the crime scene, the victim and the suspects (and been armed with Evidence Booklets), we’ll reveal a series of clues – including blood stains, omnibus tickets and personal belongings. As pupils practice their maths skills, the suspects will be whittled down one by one – until only the criminal remains.

But there’s still more to do – because the identity of his or her accomplice has yet to be revealed. A job that will be undertaken in up to three follow-up workshops, each for up to 30 pupils.

Exploring (according to year group and time): measurements, number investigations, additive and multiplicative reasoning, time, positional language, properties of 2D and 3D shapes, problem-solving, angles, trajectories.

Duration: one day.

“CSI: Maths was fun but challenging - exciting, active, different - and really enjoyable! We learnt new things, it made us think - and everyone was involved. It was amazing!" Pupil, Weatherhead Media Arts College

 

The Trading Game (S1 - S7)

A high energy activity that challenges students’ understanding of shape, probes concepts of “value” and asks them to cope with the unexpected!

The Trading Game provides students with opportunities to think about maths in some very different ways. Working in an ever-shifting environment, they’ll come to understand that “value” can be a concept that changes depending on circumstances, that the ability to prioritise is an essential mathematical skill, and that the properties of 2D shapes allow them to be arranged in a variety of ways.

And while the Game has its own intrinsic merit, of course, its greater value lies in the follow-up – where students are facilitated through a process allowing them to identify and categorise the skills they have had to use.

Fast, furious and fantastically engaging, The Trading Game workshop can accommodate up to 60 pupils at a time and can last anything from an hour to half a day. It exisits in a range of age-differentiated formats.

Exploring: tessellation, changing values, problem-solving.

Duration: 1 hour - 1 day

Suitable for: up to 60 pupils at a time

“All who witnessed the level of buzz and atmosphere in the room were simply blown away by the engagement of students, the high energy environment and delighted in watching students find clever and innovative approaches... A superb day was had by all.” Altwood Church of England School

 

Big Maths Activity Days

Maths Workshops Secondary School Big Maths

We know that it's often important for secondary schools to offer activities to whole year groups - and we understand, too, the logistical difficulties that this can bring. So we've designed Big Maths Days that allow up to 240 S1 - S7 students to carousel around a number of very different creative Maths workshops in the course of one day. Workshops can include; CSI: Maths, Selling Maths, The Trading Game, The Expedition and The Bunker.  Find out more about our Big Maths days here!

 

Live Streamed Workshops

CSI: Michaela Maths - Using a range of mathematical skills to solve a dastardly crime  

Setting students the challenge of calculating which of six suspects tried to murder the country’s best woman football player. This workshop takes a “generalistic” approach to the maths curriculum and is available in differentiated formats across S1 - S5. Each workshop requires a minimum of an hour.

CSI: Bake Off - Using the fuel of fractions (and, for older pupils, percentages) to clear up some trouble in the kitchen 

The baking world has been rocked to its core by an attempt on the life of one of the nation’s best known celebrity chefs. And students will have to use their knowledge of and skills with fractions, ratios and percentages to differentiate the innocent from the guilty. This workshop is available in differentiated formats across S1 - S5, with each workshop requiring a minimum of 75 minutes.

The Priorities Game

While the little village of Amberton has been hit hard by the public health crisis, change is in the air – as funding has been found for an important community initiative. It’s up to your students, though, to represent different interest groups – and work out exactly how the cash should be apportioned! This workshop is available in differentiated formats across S1 - S5 with each workshop requiring a minimum of 60 minutes.

The Bunker

The universal language that unites mathematicians all over the world is the language of patterns. This workshop explores that language by setting students the challenged of working their way through a series of increasingly complex codes, cracking them as they go along. This workshop is available in differentiated formats across S1 - S5, with each workshop requiring a minimum of 60 minutes.

Download the Secondary Maths workshops leaflet here

"It was by far our most popular event during maths week. The students enjoyed the competitiveness of the trading game, it was great for their group and negotiating skills. The delivery and hosting of the activity was superb.” Langholm Academy

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