As a Further Maths student at OHS, I have always been very keen to answer any problem presented to me. When I was in Year 7 and Year 8, we play a ‘Puzzle of the Month’, and the person with the best solution would win a prize. It used to be really fun discussing the puzzle with friends and trying to come up with the best solution we could, even if we didn’t always win. However, over the past few years, this tradition had sadly died away.
Recently, as a Year 13 Maths class, we approached the Maths teachers and asked if it would be possible to reintroduce Puzzle of the Month, and were given a very positive response with the teachers telling us that we could run it ourselves.
I decided to take the lead in organising Puzzle of the Month. I was given a display board to decorate and put the puzzle on, which is located in the Maths block. With the help of some of my friends, we made signs and posters and found a suitable puzzle for the students to answer. We also came up with a new idea to introduce to the school for the first time – Maths Pictionary. At the end of term, we often play this game in our lessons and have always looked forward to this fun game.
Therefore, we decided to have a ‘Maths Pictionary of the Month‘, where students look at a sequence of images which together make a Mathematical word. This month, we came up with ‘Bidmas’, which was described using pictures of online auction sites or similar for ‘Bid’ and some weights for ‘mass’. The puzzles have now been distributed to the students and we are awaiting answers at the end of the month!
Other exciting news – we now have a new Computer Programming club which has just started running for Year 11 upwards. This involves one of our teachers showing us how to look at algorithms on computers to see how they work. This is one of the most fascinating and useful skills which can be taught, and I’m sure as the club becomes more publicised around the school, it will become more and more popular!
These are just a few of the many opportunities open to the Maths students in Oxford High School, which I am glad to be a part of.
Oxford High School 