St Gregory's Primary Hosts Immersive Maths Escape Room for NSPCC Number Day
St Gregory's Catholic Primary School in Margate recently celebrated the NSPCC's annual Number Day with a school-wide event that blended a passion for mathematics with raising awareness for the charity's crucial efforts. The highlight of the day was an innovative and thrilling maths escape room experience, delivered by the Subject Revolution team, which transformed traditional learning into an interactive adventure for every phase across the school.
Interactive Learning with "What Lies in the Shadows?"
Titled "What Lies in the Shadows?", the escape room challenged pupils to work together through a series of practical maths problems, integrated with drama and media content, all brought directly into the school environment. Students had to solve mathematical reasoning and problem-solving challenges while navigating different zones, all while avoiding detection by invading Robotrons. The carefully differentiated tasks required teamwork, resilience, and sharp thinking, keeping pupils fully engaged as they raced to crack codes and complete the mission.
Varied Activities Across the School
Activities were diverse throughout the school. One group enjoyed a biscuit-decorating task with a maths twist, where they rolled a dice and mentally calculated how many chocolates to place on their biscuits—which they then got to eat. They also created a number line using the numbers on their clothes, managing to stretch from 1 to 97 with only a few gaps in between.
Athanasia Papa-Adams, the maths lead and assistant head teacher, commented: "This immersive experience truly brought the subject to life for our children. They were focused, motivated, and excited to solve the puzzles and release the codes. It really made Number Day special and memorable."
Pupils embraced the themed day by 'dressing for digits' in a variety of costumes and participating in hands-on classroom activities, including maths relays, puzzle solving, songs, and pattern work.
Future Maths Initiatives
Looking ahead, Year 5 and Year 6 pupils will have the opportunity next term to join a live maths lesson with Gareth Metcalfe, a maths specialist and director of I See Maths, as part of the ongoing Times Tables Rock Stars initiative. This aims to continue building excitement and confidence in maths learning.
Dave Walker, head teacher, added: "Once again Number Day at St Gregory's proved to be a wonderful celebration of maths, teamwork, and creativity—all while profiling an incredibly important cause to our children."
St Gregory's is part of the Kent Catholic Schools Partnership (KCSP), located in Margate, Kent.
