These sample sessions are designed to give a taster of maths circles. You can use them to get a feel for what a maths circle is like, or run one or both of them as a taster session with pupils. They has been designed to use with larger groups of pupils who haven’t had previous experience of maths circles.
Full resources to run the session are provided at the bottom of the page. These give you a taste of the support that’s provided with every Axiom Maths session.
How are they the same/different from other Axiom Maths sessions?
The content and structure of these sessions are representative of an actual Axiom Maths session. There are speech bubbles on some of the slides (hidden in presentation view) to point out common features of Axiom Maths sessions. We suggest you may finish the purple ‘core’ problems in one hour. If you have more or less than this time, use the additional problem for ‘rapid graspers’ and the guidance on the overview slide to organise and structure your taster session(s) as you see fit.
How easy is it to use?
The sessions are written as PowerPoint presentations with extensive guidance notes to help you deliver them. We have also provided training materials to accompany the sessions at the bottom of this page.
Do pupils have to sit in a circle?
We find that having about six pupils sat in a circle is a great way to encourage collaboration and to catalyse conversations between the mathematicians. It’s enough to engender debate but not so many that the mentor can’t see/hear what’s going on with the whole group. If you’re running a sample session with a larger group, push some tables together to get them used to the group-working style they will be using in actual Axiom Maths circles when they sign up!
What am I looking for from pupils when they do the session?
The Axiom Maths programme is designed to create “triple A” mathematicians. As they move through the programme, pupils will become more adventurous, accepting and articulate.
- Pupils are adventurous when they try stuff out, even if it might not work and keep going or change method when a first idea does or doesn’t work.
- Pupils are articulate when they explain their ideas to mentors and peers, sharing their thinking, reasoning, or workings clearly enough that someone else can follow it.
- Pupils are accepting when they are interested in different approaches, challenge one another, and change their mind if someone gives convincing reasoning.
The problems in the sample sessions are accessible and fun and will help you see whether pupils currently exhibit these behaviours. You can then start to think how to support them to develop and grow into more and more confident mathematicians over the five-year Axiom Maths programme.
Running the Sample Sessions
Here’s everything you need to run Session 0 with your pupils:
| The PowerPoint file, complete with guidance notes on hidden slides | Sample session A yn y Gymraeg | Sample session B yn y Gymraeg |
| The printable PDF file, so that you can have guidance notes to hand during the session | Sample session A yn y Gymraeg | Sample session B yn y Gymraeg |
| Printable sheets for the activities | Pac(k)-man yn y Gymraeg | Square squash yn y Gymraeg |
| An introductory video explaining the key points of the session | Sample session A | Sample session B |
| Additional videos with further guidance about each task | Pac(k)-man Sort it out True or not true? A puzzle for Pac(k)-man | Square squash Does it fit? Squash it in! |