Rochdale Sixth Form College students inspire next generation mathematicians

Local pupils recently took part in a mathematics outreach project ran by Rochdale Sixth Form College

Pupils from Caldershaw Primary School, Holy Family RC Primary School and St. Patrick’s RC Primary School recently took part in a mathematics outreach project run by Rochdale Sixth Form College.

The prestigious Royal Institution (Ri) trained students from the college before they delivered mathematics-based masterclasses to the primary school pupils. The project ran as part of the college’s bespoke enrichment programme and the students involved have a keen interest in mathematics or aspirations to become teachers.

Some of the masterclasses delivered by the students had a focus on Dippy the dinosaur as Rochdale gears up to welcome the Natural History Museum’s famous dinosaur cast.

All students at Rochdale Sixth Form College complement their academic studies by taking part in an extensive enrichment programme, which focuses on developing skills to support progression to higher education and employment.

Aneesa Bibi, Subject Leader of Mathematics at Rochdale Sixth Form College said: “The masterclasses were a great opportunity for our students and the primary school pupils. They provided students the opportunity to engage and interact with other schools and develop their mentoring skills. The primary pupils really enjoyed the sessions and learnt some new maths skills; they left with a deeper understanding of college life and The Royal Institution.

The Ri masterclass programme was started by Professor Sir Christopher Zeeman in 1981 after the popularity of his 1978 Christmas lectures on mathematics.

The Ri originally ran secondary mathematics masterclasses for students aged between 12-14 and have since extended the programme to provide mathematics masterclasses for primary aged pupils, as well as cross curricular engineering and computer science masterclasses.