On Thursday 2nd February, The Happy Puzzle Company visited Smestow Academy. Students from years 7 and 9 took part in workshops that focused on problem solving and team building skills. In groups of 6, pupils took part in a series of fun challenges. Challenge 1 proved the most fun for staff as pupils tried to balance penguins on a wobbly iceberg. Students had to work carefully and strategically to ensure that the penguins didn’t fall off. If a member of staff spotted a fallen penguin, we were given permission to knock the penguins off and students had to start again!
The pupils worked on a variety of problems including tangrams and jigsaw puzzles. Pupils had to communicate with each and collaborate to succeed. The pupils showed their reasoning skills as well as their resilience as the problems got increasingly more challenging.
The pupils had a lot of fun engaging in maths away from the classroom and enjoyed working together as teams.