➗ Building Strong Foundations in Maths This Week 📊

This week in Maths, our Functional Skills group has been focusing on the core skills of identifying multiples and factors, building a strong foundation for accessing more advanced content.

To support understanding, students used practical, hands-on resources such as counters. For example, they explored the factors of 10 by physically grouping counters into equal sets, helping them recognise that 1, 2, 5 and 10 are all factors. Similarly, they identified multiples of 4 by adding rows of counters and counting the total, reinforcing the concept in a clear and visual way.

At our recent open evening, Tom spoke with many young people who shared that they often struggle with maths. Through a range of concrete activities, they were able to build confidence and understanding in a fun and accessible way. A popular activity included a wooden pizza model, where students demonstrated halves and began to grasp fractions more easily. Another activity involved dividing 12 cards into 3 equal groups, helping learners clearly see how 12 ÷ 3 = 4.

At Lord Gowthorpe’s, we place a strong emphasis on using concrete methods as the first step in learning maths. These hands-on approaches help students fully understand concepts before progressing to pictorial and abstract methods, ensuring learning is meaningful and long-lasting.

It has been fantastic to see students engaging so positively and growing in confidence with their maths skills.