Alongside our work in mainstream education, we have been working with Special Schools since 2008, tailoring workshops to meet the huge range of needs catered for by the sector.

We recognise that your schools are incredibly diverse, working with children and young people with a huge range of needs - and that each school is special in its own right, delivering high quality learning experiences designed to meet the individual needs of each and every pupil. And, with the experience that we've gathered over the last ten years, we're able to tailor a range of tried and tested creative maths programmes to complement and supplement the work you do. And, particularly in secondary settings, we make explicit links between what we do and the life skills the students will be wanting to acquire.

Our approach is to work with you to:

  • Identify the most appropriate workshop (or workshops) for the pupils we'll be working with.
  • Tailor the content and delivery to meet the needs of those pupils (including those with SEMH needs).
  • Ensure that the workshop (or workshops) are appropriately challenging.

Options for School Workshops in 2024

Maths Workshops in your School
Whole-School Maths Teaching Resources
Live Streamed Maths Workshops

 

Maths Workshops for Special Educational Needs Schools 

All of the workshops below have been delivered with great success in Special Schools.

 

The Pirate's Challenge

Piratical fun with shapes and/or numbers!

When Captain Richard Morgan arrives at school, he’ll be more than a little confused - because just a few hours beforehand he’ll have been on his pirate vessel, The Good Ship Mathematics, in the middle of the Caribbean! Swept to your school by a Time Tornado, he’ll need the pupils’ help to get back to his own time and place. Are they up to the Challenge? And it’s a Challenge that will test their understanding of shape and/or number and/or positional language to the max!
 

Areas Can Include (after consultation with you): both additive and multiplicative reasoning, fractions, number patterns, mental and written calculation, elimination, 2D and 3D shapes, measurement, interpreting data, positional language, co-ordinates.

 

"We had a fantastic experience of working with you. Students were extremely engaged in the workshop and contributed well to discuss and solve problems. Students were also developing and using various mathematical skills without even realising that they were doing it! A well planned workshop that ran seamlessly." (Severndale Specialist Academy)

 

Whole-School Maths: The Riddle of the Sphinx 

Problem-solving in the pyramids - accommodating up to 420 pupils in a day!

Our resident archaeologist, Dr Colorado Smith, has returned from Egypt with some exciting news - he's now collected all the clues required to solve the age old Riddle of the Sphinx - and open the Inner Sanctum in the Valley of the Kings. But as he can't do it by himself, he's on the lookout for schools to help him!

Featuring opening and closing assemblies, workshops and in-class challenges, The Riddle of the Sphinx takes pupils through three stages of mathematical thinking: concrete, pictorial and abstract. And while there's a definite focus on "measurement", the programme covers a whole range of other areas - and can accommodate the whole of a two-form entry school in a single day!

Exploring: measurement, additive and multiplicative reasoning, patterns and sequences, properties of 2D and 3D shapes, money, time, Roman numerals, percentages, problem solving - selected for each age group in line with Curriculum objectives.

"The children had a wonderful time and every year group was inspired, challenged and excited by the activity and Jackson’s approach. We found the idea of the workshops so clever and there was such a variety of maths involved. In 14 years of teaching, it’s the best workshop I’ve seen!" St Mary's Hare Park

 

CSI: Maths

A series of challenging mysteries to engage your students and promote logical thinking

Options include ...

CSI: Storyland - Merging storytelling with data handling

With the help of the elves, the Shoemaker’s fortunes have been restored – and all is well in Storyland. Until, that is, his precious last is stolen! Which of his neighbours could have taken it? After using storytelling techniques to introduce pupils to the crime and the suspects, we'll share with them a range of clues left at the scene. They'll then use their data handling skills to reveal the identity of the miscreant! Was it Goldilocks, the Billy Goats Gruff, Little Miss Muffet, the Little Pigs or Red Riding Hood? It’s up to you to find out!

Areas Can Include (after consultation with you): sorting, sequencing, data handling, additive and multiplicative reasoning

 

CSI: Tunes - Reasoning and data handling - in a real-world context!

Music industry mogul Harry Wilson has made more than a few enemies in his time - and now one of them has succeeded in making life difficult for him! So who was it who hacked into Harry's precious database, deleting all his business contacts in one fell swoop? Means, motive and opportunity will all have to be factored in as pupils investigate this calculated act of sabotage. Was it Viola de Clerc, the classical violinist? DJ Grime, the garage specialist - or popster Betty B? Boy band Heaven Sent are in the mix as well, as is New Punk exponent Polly Ester - not forgetting Country and Western star Jake Carew! This exciting and fast-paced workshop invites pupils to pit their wits against the criminal by using their data handling and number skills to reveal his - or her - identity. 

 

CSI: Michaela Maths - Real-world application of a range of mathematical skills

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 dastardly deed – and want the children’s help in solving it. Having been introduced to the crime, the suspects and their possible motives, pupils 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. 

Areas Can Include (after consultation with you): additive and multiplicative reasoning, number patterns, properties of 2D and 3D shapes, data handling, estimations, fractions, percentages, positional language.

 

Sensory Maths

Since their launch last year, our Sensory Maths programmes have proved a great hit. Designed to support children and young people with profound learning needs and/or who communicate non-verbally, they harness a system of binary questions and handleable resources in using a range of senses to explore in concrete ways quantity, dimensions, capacity and texture. We’ve now developed a format for students with lesser needs, using the same basic methodologies to illustrate the value of precise mathematical language. And whichever way you choose, our unique and portable Sensory Box allows us to work with up to seven students at a time! workshop typically last for 30 minutes and you can mix and match sensory maths workshops with any of other workshops listed above. 

 

Times Tables Trattoria

Through sheer head work, Trevi Times made his dream come true – by opening his own Italian restaurant, Times’ Tables Trattoria! But with his team of chefs wasting too much food (and spending too much money), that dream is on the verge of turning into a nightmare. If only there were some children who could use their knowledge and understanding of number to help him keep his trattoria open …

Featuring opening and closing assemblies, workshops and in-class challenges, Times’ Tables Trattoria gives pupils opportunities to use their number skills (and, where appropriate, their times tables) in context – and see how they really count. The programmes has a clear focus on multiples (including doubling) and commutative law – with problem solving to the fore, too! And Trevi is able to accommodate the whole of a two-form entry primary school in a single day.

Exploring (depending on pupils' levels/ability): number skills, times tables, additive and multiplicative reasoning, fractions, percentages, money and problem solving.

 

Outdoor Maths

Using the outdoors to bring home the relevance of numeracy to children's everyday lives

Outdoor spaces provide wonderful opportunities to explore how numbers and shapes create both the built and natural worlds. So our engaging (and very active!) outdoor maths workshops, which feature a range of tried and tested al fresco activities, bring home the relevance of numeracy to our everyday lives – and provide lots of scope for problem-solving too!

We have developed a whole range of engaging and ability appropriate activities for all year groups, including our specially designed portable Outdoor Maths Trail - allowing us to offer open air workshops over a whole range of timescales.

Exploring (depending on time, age and group size): maths-in-context, maths language, number investigations, additive and multiplicative reasoning, number sequences and patterns, shape investigations, properties of 2D and 3D shapes, positional language, measurements, data collection, presentation and interpretation.

"Thank you for today...the teachers mentioned how engaged the pupils were (a hard thing to achieve!) and that it was pitched at a really good level for the groups." (Billing Brook Special School)

 

Family Maths

Mathematical fun for all the family!

We all know how much family support benefits children's learning. So our Family Maths workshops have been specifically developed to gain and cement that support by offering a fun and friendly environment in which parents/carers work alongside their children on activities that both explore the value of maths and unpick fluency, reasoning and problem-solving. And, by tackling our Household Maths Trail, they'll discover just how easy it is to use any part of the home as a stimulus for quick and impromptu maths challenges!

Family Maths workshops are available in a range of formats - but if you book one at the end of a day of workshops with pupils, we'll be happy to offer you a healthy discount!

 

Maths Twilight (add-on workshops for staff)

To fully capitalise on the new approaches you'll have seen in action, why not end your day with a Creative Maths Twilight for staff? Our CPD programmes are highly experiential and outcomes-driven, so you'll have a chance to un-pick what you've witnessed, try out some more new methodologies and take part in active, collaborative planning. And, by booking this at the end of a day of our workshops with pupils, you'll get it all for a fraction of the usual price!

 

Themed Maths Resource Packages

Available as individual packages or as part of a Bumper Bundle, consisting of any two of these, together with our unique Family Maths resource package! 

The resources have been designed to allow teachers to take up the narrative and support their pupils in exploring the worlds we’ve created. 

You can purchase and download them directly from www.ascreativesconnect.com/

The Race into Space - The search is on for the UK's next astronaut – and Major Tom wants your pupils' help in selecting the best person for the job. He’s found six well-suited candidates, all with different qualifications – but it’s up to you to decide which one will win The Race into Space! (EYFS - Y6 / P1 - P7)

The Riddle of the Sphinx - Our resident archaeologist, Dr Colorado Smith, has returned from Egypt with some exciting news: she's now collected all the clues required to solve the age old Riddle of the Sphinx - and open the Inner Sanctum in the Valley of the Kings. But as she can't do it by herself, she's on the lookout for schools to use their understanding of concepts of “measurement” to help her! (EYFS - Y6 / P1 - P7)

The Benefactor - Eccentric millionaire Benny Factor has amassed a fortune over the last few years – and it’s now time to give something back to a village that’s very close to his heart: Amberton. The trouble is, though, that with so many community groups within the village to choose from, he can’t quite decide how to carve his money up! And that’s where you come in, as your pupils help him draw up a series of budgets. (EYFS - Y6 / P1 - P7)

Family Maths: Maths in Everyday Life – comprising a range of challenges for all the family, exploring ways in which we use maths all the time, without ever really thinking about it – and demonstrating just how easy it is to use almost any family activity as a springboard for a quick maths challenge.

"We have had a brilliant week exploring Ancient Egypt. We solved brilliant literacy and numeracy challenge, Riddle of the Sphinx! Also excavated treasure and spelling words, built tombs, role-played Pharaohs and so much more!" Woodmuir Primary

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