Hurst's Head of Prep School, Heather Beeby presents the NSPCC's certificate to Scotts house captains Elena Hargreaves from Hassocks and Charlie Atkinson from Hurstpierpoint

Pupils at Hurstpierpoint College Prep School took part in the NSPCC Number Day just before Christmas with the aim of raising as much money as they could for the NSPCC.

The idea of taking part in Number Day originated with Hurstpierpoint College's Prep School's Head of Maths, Tim Cattaneo and Scotts house captains Elena Hargreaves from Hassocks and Charlie Atkinson from Hurstpierpoint. Although a Scotts House initiative, the idea was enthusiastically endorsed by all Hurst's Prep pupils who threw themselves into the project, coming up with ideas for number games and activities and additional ways of raising funds.

On the day, every child came to school wearing something green to remind them of the importance of the green full stop that the NSPCC use at the end of their name as a visual reminder that their aim is to "put an end to cruelty to children FULL STOP." All took part in number games (for which many were sponsored), brought cakes for a morning cake sale and organised lunchtime raffles. "Everyone enjoyed themselves" commented Hurst Prep's new Head Heather Beeby, "quite a few who regarded themselves as 'non mathematicians' discovered they could have great fun with numbers and, most importantly of all, children became much more aware of the issues the NSPCC addresses. In all, we raised £1,700 and the children were delighted when Denise Derbyshire, the NSPCC's National Head of Schools, wrote this week to thank them for the "generous donation" the school made by taking part in this initiative".