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Maths WeekOCTOBER NEWSLETTER All the ways you can get involved in Maths Week Don’t forget to register your school as taking part in Maths Week 2026 |
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Dear Maths Friends,
Hard to believe that it’s already October and maths week is only 10 days away.
Teachers, don’t forget to register and show your school is a mathstastic school!
We have daily MathsWeekTV, many online activities and lots of events planned and events are being added daily in the run up. We will send a Maths Week preview newsletter next week with updates.
Read below for lots of activities and information about taking part in Maths Week 2026. |
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Eoin Gill, Maths Week Founder |
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Have You Registered Your School? |
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Register your school as taking part in Maths Week! By registering, you help us track the number or students getting involved in Maths activities and allows us to continue to grow Maths Week.
We’re trying to break our record of 500,000 students participating, and we’re over 50% of the way there!
Register your school today and enter in a chance to win one of 5 Samsung Galaxy tablets or a set of IZAK 9 Cubes for the teachers. All schools registered are automatically entered. |
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| | Participate in Maths Week from the comfort of your own classroom! Featuring daily programmes for Primary and Secondary students, turn on Maths Week TV for live Maths presentation. |
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Maths Week TV Programme Monday 12 October: 10am to 11am - Exploring Megafauna in Irish Water with the Explorers Education Programme [3rd - 6th class / Year 5-8]
Monday 12 October: 11am to 12pm - Virtual Mathematical Circus with Tiago Hirth [TY, 5th and 6th Year / Year 12-14]
Tuesday 13 October: 10am to 11am - Mini Quiz with Franz Schwindlein [3rd, 4th class / Year 4, 5]
Tuesday 13 October: 11am to 12pm - Using a Chessboard for Anything But Chess with Ayliean MacDonald [1st-3rd Year / Year 9-11]
Wednesday 14 October: 10am to 11am - The Hidden Maths of Technology with Zoe Griffiths [5th, 6th class / Year 7, 8]
Wednesday 14 October: 11am to 12pm - The Hidden Maths of Technology with Zoe Griffiths [TY, 5th and 6th Year / Year 12-14]
Wednesday 14 October: 10:00 r.n. Meigeafána a Thaiscéaladh in Uisce Éireann leis an Explorers Education Programme [Rang 3-6]
Thursday 15 October: 10 to 11 am - Mega Quiz with Franz Schwindlein [5th, 6th class / Year 6, 7]
Thursday 15 October: 10:00 to 10:30 r.n. Tráth na gCeist - Seachtain an Mhata [Rang Junior and Senior Infants / Year 1, 2]
Friday 16 October: 10:30 to 12 pm - Dream Space LIVE [5th/6th class and 1st year, Junior Cycle (ROI)/P7 to P9 (NI)]
Friday 16 October: 10:00 to 10:30 r.n. An Tobar Draíochta [Rang 1st, 2nd Class / Year 3, 4] |
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| | During Maths Week, find some Maths puzzles in parks around the island. Do at your own pace, take a walk through the parks and test your brain in the outdoors. If you see our puzzles, make sure to send us your photos at tag us @mathsweekireland #IUseMaths |
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You will find Puzzles in the Park in parks and public spaces in Belfast, Cork, Galway, Dublin, Waterford, Derry~Londonderry, Kilkenny, Tralee, Limerick, Wexford We are currently finalising the parks and public spaces for this year and full details will be posted on the website. |
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Maths in the City will return to Belfast on the 17 October and will be visiting Dublin 10 October and Dundalk on 11 October. Details will be announced in next week’s newsletter.
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Hamilton Walk16 October, 1:30pm |
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| Every year, Maths Week happens around 16 October, which is the date when Hamilton discovered Quaternions, a strange new number system that play a fundamental role in computer games and animation, special effects in films, space navigation, and more. |
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| The Hamilton Walk will retrace Hamilton’s steps, starting from Dunsink Observatory to Broombridge in Cabra where he had his Eureka moment. Come learn about Hamilton, retrace his steps, and go through a journey of mathematical discovery! |
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RIA Hamilton Lecture: The Mysteries of Prime Numbers16 October at 6:00pm |
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| Fields Medallist Professor James Maynard |
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| Prime numbers are some of the most fascinating objects in mathematics. On the one hand they are basic and fundamental and are vital for modern internet security. On the other hand, they remain mysterious and poorly understood - despite being studied for thousands of years! In this year’s Hamilton Lecture, Professor James Maynard, will explain why prime numbers are vital, both in pure mathematics and in the real world, and how current mathematics is able to make progress on some of the key questions which have occupied mathematicians going back to the ancient Greeks. |
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| Maths in the Market YardMarket Yard, Carrick on Shannon Saturday 17 October |
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| From 9am, Carrick on Shannon comes to life with Maths in the Market Yard. There’ll be something for all ages where families can enjoy fun applications of Maths from counting challenges and lollipop games, to predictions and probability puzzles. |
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| Celebration of MindBotanic Gardens Dublin Sunday 18 October |
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| Maths Week 2026 will wrap up in style on Sunday 18 October at the Botanic Gardens, Dublin. Celebration of Mind takes its inspiration from Martin Gardner, who is probably the greatest populariser of Maths in the 20th Century. |
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Featuring games, puzzles, and teasers from around the world in the beautiful surroundings of the Botanic Gardens in Dublin. All are welcome to come by and engage with Maths games and puzzles at their own pace with a variety of presenters and volunteers! |
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| Maths Week Target Boards
Challenge schools across Ireland and claim your spot on the Leaderboard! |
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Target Boards are a great fun way for your class to practice arithmetic during Maths Week. Pupils won’t even realise they are working! Each day during Maths Week, a new Target Board challenge will be posted. Work together to find as many expressions using a set of 9 numbers and 4 operators. The top classes will make the daily leaderboard. There is a senior section for upper primary schools and a junior section for younger pupils.
Try out the TargetBoards demonstration and register HERE. |
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Maths Week has partnered with Ireland State Savings again this year to develop Money Sense Activities. This year we are adding Junior and Senior Infants activities and a new digital game for 3rd & 4th Class. Here’s a preview of the new Junior and Senior Infants activity that involve sorting, matching, counting and developing an understanding of how money works from an early age. |
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You can find our Money Sense! Games from last year on the Maths Week Website. These activities are a great way to introduce students to money maths in a fun and interactive way. |
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Get Involved with Maths Week! |
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Here are the ways you can get your students involved in Maths Week: Live Events - We will have Maths in the City for all to come by and play with Maths puzzles and games. There will also be some live events for schools. Daily MathsWeekTV - Enjoy the best speakers, presentations and activities from the comfort of your own classroom. Maths Week TV will take place each day, from 10-11am for Primary students and 11-12pm for Post-Primary students. Maths Week Posters - We have sent out Maths Week posters to all schools in Ireland, which can be used as a resource to engage your students with Maths. Online Games - Maths Week is developing an online game to teach students Money Maths in a fun video game format. This will be available on our website. Money Sense Activities - In partnership with Ireland State Savings, Maths Week has developed a series of activities to teach students about money management. Find these on our resource page. Maths Eyes Competition - Entries for the Maths Eyes poster competition will open during Maths Week. Submit a photo and tagline of how you see maths in the world - use your Maths Eyes! In-School Activities - There is a variety of resources and activities available on our website.
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What have the Irish Ever Done for Mathematics? |
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| For 10 years, Prof Colm Mulcahy has been writing blogs celebrating Irish mathematicians. On Thu, 27 Aug 2026 he spoke at the Irish Mathematical Society's 50th anniversary conference at Trinity College Dublin, on Irish contributions to maths over the past 4 centuries. His slides can be see at link below. |
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| Maths in the Wild consists of workshops designed for primary and secondary school students. Participants engage in interactive experiments and mathematical calculations, allowing them to experience firsthand how maths and science, mainly neuroscience, are applied in exploring and understanding our surroundings.
These workshops were created by Dr Nicole Beisiegel and Dr John Butler, who both teach mathematics at Technological University Dublin
Each workshop on this site is self-contained and ready to use. You'll find a lesson plan, presentation slides, student worksheets with solutions, and a multiple choice quiz with solutions. Workshops are designed to run in a double class period (60–90 minutes) and require no specialist equipment beyond a projector. |
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The CCPC is delighted to announce that applications for the 2026 ‘Our Money, Our Future’ sponsorship programme are now open.
Our Money, Our Future is a Global Money Week-aligned sponsorship programme by the CCPC. It supports post-primary schools and Youthreach centres to develop creative, student-led financial literacy initiatives. |
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If you would like to share any news, resources, of events with us, or if you have feedback on this newsletter, please email us at mathsweek.wd@setu.ie |
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