A Gifted and Talented programme was arranged last week for Gifted and Talented Thurrock students to take part in a focused programme of study.
Ormiston Park Academy students stormed the course, specialising in their Maths strengths, reaching a record number for this subject.
The ‘Enigma Project’ was then set up for these students who thrived in Maths and gave them a chance to put their problem solving and logical reasoning skills to the test by taking part in a circus of hands-on code breaking activities. The more codes they crack, the greater their chance of revealing the identity of ‘The Enigma Character-’ something of which G&T OPA students shone in.
The Enigma Project is a presentation about the history and mathematics of codes and code breaking, from ancient Greece to the present, including a demonstration of a genuine WWII enigma machine.
The event was aimed at more able students from Year 7 to Year 9 including those pupils who have the potential to be gifted and/or talented.
The day was led and organised by experienced staff from the ‘Happy Puzzle Company’ with highly effective, hands on learning experience along with the ‘Millennium Mathematics Project’ with the ‘Enigma Schools Project’ taking code breaking, mathematics, intrigue and strategy into the classroom and beyond.
‘The Happy Puzzle Company’ provided challenges presented in an appropriate way specifically for KS3 pupils. The focus of the programme was on achievement and not completion. Students were genuinely challenged, but they found that the puzzles can be solved using the right strategies and effective team work.
