At Harrow Chongqing, we want our students to realise that learning Maths is not just about completing assignments in a workbook, but also about the skills that are essential for the future in real life. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division serve as the four core skills of maths, and how to apply the maths skills in real life is the focus of our students' development. In Grade 4, we construct different real-life situations for students to put their maths skills to use and get a truer sense of what maths can be beyond homework.

In the Mathematics classroom, we adopt a constructivist approach to education. The core idea is that knowledge is constructed through the interaction between students and the environment. The teacher acts as an inspirer of knowledge, providing stimulating questions or situations to fully mobilise students' initiative and participation, to grow in independent thinking, and to construct knowledge through practice.

In the Grade 4 classroom, students "enter" a party shopping scenario, use their maths skills to complete a party-ready task, and work collaboratively to complete different forms of practice and learning.

STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths) is an emerging approach to blended learning in recent years. Harrow Chongqing, at the forefront of education, attaches particular importance to the use of STEAM and encourages STEAM teaching through a variety of project-based learning programmes in schools to stimulate students' scientific thinking.

During the recently concluded annual STEAM WEEK, the Grade 4 Maths class defined 'E' as English, using Maths as the basis for practising a second language. We used what we learned in class to create a budget sheet that asked students to calculate the total cost of a project using the skills they had learned in maths class.

In this class, we were learning number patterns as I was preparing the students to begin their studies on double and triple digit multiplication. Then, they learn multiplication so they can use it to complete long division and then all of these skills they will use to complete an authentic situation of completing a shopping trip. This is how we have similarities to the traditional approach. We are constantly building to master the subject.

However, I am taking several different pedagogical approaches and combining them. In the case of our shopping trip idea, we are using a constructivist approach because students will be reflecting on their previous experiences of buying things in shops, or these days, on the phone. We take a collaborative approach by grouping the students who are going shopping for a party and it’s their job to prepare everything for the party. Then, we are using an integrative approach by combining multiple mathematical skills to complete one large project. This way, we are giving the students many different forms of learning, practice, and assessment.

Yes, in fact since your visit to the class Harrow had its annual STEAM Week and we took the opportunity to blend many different subjects together. In the case of S, science, we learned about pollution and how it affects the planet. In the case of T, Technology, and E, engineering, we learned about designing and building special garbage cans that can collect recyclable materials. However, in the case of our class, we made E for English so we could use the opportunity to work on the students’ second language. Finally, in the case of Maths, we used what we had been learning in the class to create a budget sheet, which required the students to use all the mentioned skills in your previous question to total the cost of a project such as this.