Going MENTAL in Maths

Over the past two days, we’ve been sharpening our brains and developing some clever and cunning mental strategies to tackle all sorts of maths problems!

We began by exploring what happens when we add or subtract 99 from a number - discovering quick and efficient ways to find the answer without ever reaching for a calculator. Then, we looked at how we can make tricky column subtraction problems much easier by simply subtracting one from each number. After all, subtraction is just finding the difference - so the answer stays the same!

Next, the children put their new skills to the test with problems like 3452 + 990. Using their knowledge, they realised it could be solved in a flash: add 1000 and subtract 10!

I was so impressed by the children’s resourcefulness, logical thinking and their ability to make connections and clearly explain their reasoning. Their enthusiasm for mental maths has been fantastic to see!

We’ve even taken some brilliant photos of the children’s journals to show just how hard they’ve been working - take a look below to see their amazing efforts!