Learning through activity and interaction

Ms Teh spearheads Maths projects that encourage pupils to see what she calls the "beauty" in mathematics.

"We wanted a novelty factor to attract the pupils, and constant renewal and freshness to retain their interest," explains Ms Teh. Shaped like a cavern, the area has a cosy inner room housing low tables, chairs and shelves, while the larger outer room has fixtures like a magnetic board with tangram pieces, and interactive games. A shelf holds mathematics-related challenges and mind games, which are regularly refreshed.

During the week, pupils are free to visit the Maths Cavern during recess and outside curriculum hours to participate independently in the enrichment activities and interactive games. "We have pupils who are Maths monitors on duty during recess to help the pupils if they don't know how to play a game," adds Ms Teh. This thus provides an opportunity for both student leaders and pupils to exercise responsible behaviour and discipline.

The Maths Cavern is a treasure trove of interactive games to ignite pupils' interest in Math.

For Pri 3 to 6 pupils, the teachers have introduced an incentive programme called "2nd Hand Goods Rock! @ Maths Cavern". Pupils who meet certain achievement criteria - not only academic results, but also their attitude and social and emotional learning skills - are rewarded with "caveman dollars". They can accumulate these "dollars" to exchange for tokens, i.e. pre-loved or second-hand gift items, which have been donated by parents and staff. The school's parent support group works with the Maths committee members to sort and gift-wrap the tokens, and facilitate the monthly "caveman dollar" exchange sessions at the Maths Cavern.

A few days before the exchange session, the school runs a promotional video about the tokens. Ms Teh elaborates, "When pupils see something they like, they need to know if they have enough 'caveman dollars' to get that item. If they don't, they have to decide what to do next." Some may pick up a different token while others may work harder so that they can accumulate more currency. "In the process, they realise that Mathematics is relevant to daily life," she adds.

Positive results

Another initiative spearheaded by Miss Teh is the Maths Champ! programme for Pri 2 and 3 pupils. Pupils who have completed their class assignment during the Mathematics period can work on their Maths Champ! Workbook, which features mathematics problems across four difficulty levels, and earn Maths Champ! badges. "The pupils really like the different designs of the badges, so they are motivated to try out the more difficult sums," says Ms Teh. "They can ask for permission to work in pairs if they find the sums too difficult; such pair work improves their interpersonal skills."

Once a month, pupils visit the "2nd Hand Goods Rock! @ Maths Cavern" booth to exchange their "Caveman Dollars" for tokens.

From an academic perspective, these efforts and other strategies have helped to significantly improve the school's PSLE results. Last year, the school's percentage passes were on par with the national average, and in terms of A and A* grades, Ms Teh highlights that "our results are above those of similar schools, which shows that we have value-added to the pupils' learning."

Looking ahead, her Maths committee is raring to go with more new ideas to nurture a positive attitude and raise the motivation levels and standards of their pupils. One idea is to reach out to children who lack simple numeracy skills, such as counting from one to 10, before they even start Pri 1. During the Pri 1 orientation exercise in mid-November, the team hopes to identify those families who might require additional help to prepare their children for Primary 1.

"These are likely to be parents from about 20 families who want to help their kids but don't know how," says Ms Teh. "We will provide them with a mathematics learning kit comprising simple games or activities they can do with their children to improve their basic mathematics skills." Start them off on the right foot, and if the children come to see the beauty in mathematics, perhaps they will grow to love the subject too.