IT will be a week of number-crunching for pupils in Southampton as a themed ‘maths week’ is being staged.

St Denys primary, Bitterne Manor Primary and Chamberlayne College for the Arts have joined forces to organise the week, which was kicked off in style by television favourite Johnny Ball.

The presenter, who is credited with popularising mathematics through a number of televisions shows for youngsters, hosted two lectures and helped the pupils with demonstrations in a variety of maths concepts.

The week is aimed at making maths more appealing for pupils by organising a series of activities, workshops and interactive problem solving.

The idea was the brainchild of maths teachers Jo Mumford, from St Denys, and Louise Blightman, from Bitterne Manor Primary School.

Jo said: “We have planned a whole week focused on maths in both of our schools and our mission is to bring maths alive for the children.

“We are having a different focus on each day and have organised a fun and engaging week which focuses on developing maths skills, but in a completely different way to the everyday maths lessons.

“The week involves maths trails, problem-solving through story books and maths linked to different local shops. On Friday the mayor will be joining us as we display some of the maths work for our parents to come and see.

“It has also been a wonderful opportunity to work with shops from our local community. We would like to say a huge thank you to Sainsbury’s in Portswood, International Foods in Portswood and Waterstones in WestQuay, who have all donated items for our maths week and are even giving their time to come and support the children in class.”