The Maths Week Scotland programme, runs from 23 – 29 September 2024, and a series of events, including online, are taking place.

Collie Dog Maths Tales

Five border collies will take the lead in a series of online maths lessons created by the Royal Highland Education Trust (RHET). Collie Dog Maths Tales will introduce Scottish primary school children to real maths problems on farms across Scotland. As part of Maths Week Scotland coordinated by National Museums Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government.  

In each session, children will join a different collie for a virtual walk around farms in Aberdeenshire, Loch Lomond, Argyll, Stirling and the Highlands, learning about the maths and science they encounter along the way. The pups will explore the ways maths is used for growing crops, herding sheep, caring for chickens and milking cows.  

Collie Dog Maths Tales sessions for primary schools will take place on Wednesday 25 and Thursday 26 of September, and Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 3 of October. A public session is also planned for 9am on Sunday 6 October, when families enjoying breakfast together will discover where the milk in their cereal comes from.  

Collie Dog Maths Tales has been devised in response to this year’s Maths Week Scotland theme Maths Tales.  The programme includes over 100 events, from the Borders to the Highlands and Islands, that explore different ways maths can be used to tell stories.  

Maths Tales Bags

Primary school teachers in the UHI STEM Outreach Programme have created Maths Tales Bags to support early level learners develop maths concepts through storytelling. 

The theme for 2024 is ‘Maths Tales’ and explores how maths is used in stories. 

The bags focus on play and early numeracy, with very little prior knowledge or experience necessary.  They are accessible to all, designed to be explored by young people in whatever way is best at their age and stage of development.

The Maths Tales Bags aim to:

• Increase maths understanding for early level learners.
• Boost staff confidence in teaching maths.
• Make maths fun and interactive.

In addition to a story book and fun resources to complement the story, there are suggested activities and questions to support early years staff to explore early maths concepts, linked to the Early Level of Curriculum for Excellence.

The Maths Tales Bags can be borrowed for a week at a time and there are three titles available:

• Cave Baby by Julia Donaldson and Emily Gravett
• The Perfect Fit by Naomi Jones and James Jones
• Puffin Peter by Petr Horacek

Dawne Bloodworth, UHI Head of STEM Development said:

“The Maths Tales Bags are a wonderful way to engage young learners in early numeracy. By integrating activities with these popular children’s books, we’re making maths fun, accessible and interactive. They offer an opportunity for hands-on exploration, helping to build confidence and early maths skills in an enjoyable way.” 

To book a Maths Tales Bag for your early years setting, please email: stem@uhi.ac.uk

Find out more about Maths Week Scotland: mathsweek.scot

Maths Week at the National Museum of Scotland

At the National Museum of Scotland, families can enjoy maths tales together in the family storybook corner, unleash their creativity with LEGO® bricks, take robots for a spin or delve into strategy games. Elsewhere, highlights include mathematical story trails through the farm and woodland at Almond Valley Heritage Centre in Livingston; meet the author events online; and story time workshops in primary schools across Perth and Kinross. 

Maths Week Scotland is supporting a host of classroom activities for schools across the country, encouraging innovation and participation. Activity packs are available to download from the Maths Week Scotland website, with ideas of how to celebrate and enjoy the week for everyone from early years to secondary school pupils. 

Meanwhile, the daily Maths Week Scotland challenges will return, with accompanying BBC Bitesize learning videos setting out how to tackle them.https://www.mathsweek.scot/schools/learning-resources/smc-maths-in-motion  

National Museums Scotland is working with a wide range of organisations and collaborators to support and deliver Maths Week Scotland activity across Scotland. For a full list of contributors and to view the whole programme, visit: www.mathsweek.scot