TV personality Johnny Ball ran two workshops for High Wycombe children during their annual maths week earlier this month.

Mr Ball has been championing maths for many years on television and across the nation’s schools and shared his love of maths with the children of Tylers Green Middle School, in Cock Lane, in fun, interactive and engaging sessions.

Mr Ball said: "After failing at school, I took up recreational maths, which opened up a whole new world of opportunities and enabled me to develop such a varied career.

"Everyone is capable of genius, just like Archimedes, Galileo, Kepler, Descartes or Newton, it is all a question of determination.

"This is what I tried to teach the children of Tylers Green Middle School at my workshops today."

Headteacher, Andy Tagg, said "All the children were extremely excited about such an esteemed celebrity visiting the school to talk to them about maths.

"We hope that his visit will build on the ongoing work we are doing in school to instil a lifelong love of maths in the children.

"Our strong focus on maths is really paying off and our Year 6 pupils got the best ever SATs results in 2014."

Pupil Megan, a Year 4 pupil, said: "Maths week was amazing. My favourite bit was Johnny Ball – he was funny, cool and a very clever mathematician. He’s amazing. "

The headteacher said that giving children at the school a lifelong love of maths is a priority and that maths week is an important part of the school’s enrichment curriculum, which provides opportunities throughout the year, outside the day to day curriculum, to enhance the learning experiences of the children.

He said the school’s strong focus on maths has really increased the children’s enjoyment of the subject and as a result they are making rapid progress.

In May, the Year 6 pupils recorded the school’s best ever SATs results with significant gains in attainment and progress in maths as well as good attainment and progress in reading, writing and spelling, punctuation and grammar.

Mr Ball visited the school on Friday, October 17.