Last Friday the rain lashed down and the Sports Hall floor was temporarily awash but the plucky Year 7 students of Poltair remained undeterred. They were going to solve puzzles come what may!

After a sterling effort by various members of staff from the Science, PE and Maths departments to clear the worst of the water out, two presenters from the Happy Puzzle Company (Jenny and Shakina) set to work challenging our newest students for an hour and a half at a time to solve a range of puzzles in teams of 5 or 6.

Most of the puzzles were given to the teams with no explanation but they experimented and made mistakes to find out not only what the objective was but also to reach that objective as quickly as they could.

By the end of the day most students had a hand in completing between 5 and 7 challenges and had gained a real sense of achievement. Jenny and Shakina were both impressed with the attitude and behaviour of our fine students.

The principles of working as a team, realising that nothing is impossible and not giving up were at the heart of the activities. Theses were the  same principles that had allowed the day to go ahead in the face of some of the worst conditions the Cornish weather could put  our way!

PS The school has a number of puzzles from the Happy Puzzle Company for use as part of Maths lessons. If you would like to purchase some for yourself, visit the website at http://www.happypuzzle.co.uk/