Maths Challenge success for Year 7 & 8 students

Congratulations to Javier Gadea in Year 8 (photographed above) who won Best In School in this year's Junior UKMT Maths Challenge – along with a Silver Certificate.

Joseph Anderson, Andrew Small and Eve Martin also won Silver Certificates, while Jackson Poindexter, Cassie Pearce, Chloe Townsend, Ethan Clay and Gabriel O'Toole gained Bronze.

The Maths Challenge is about more than winning certificates, though – it is a wonderful opportunity to spend quality time puzzling over intriguing problems. So well done to all those in Year 7 and Year 8 who took part.

Next year we plan to start a UKMT Maths Challenge mentoring scheme, continuing to look out for opportunities to enjoy challenging maths.

Taking up the Maths Challenge

Last term Leckford Place competed for the second time in the prestigious Regional Team Maths Challenge, held at the Oxford University Exam Schools on the High Street.

Forty-three schools, from the independent and state sectors, took part in a day of challenging and interesting maths tasks. There is a strong emphasis on team work, each team comprising two year 8 and two year 9 students. Junhui Li and Edith Scott, from year 8, along with Charlie Baskerville and Ben Elwell from year 9, represented Leckford Place.

Throughout the day there were four different rounds, concluding with the frenetic Relay Race, in which the teams split apart across the large hall, alternately answering questions then running with the next question for the opposite pair. There was an atmosphere of fun throughout, but with some serious maths being done, and emotions running high!

Our team competed well in all four rounds, never giving up when things became difficult – their confidence bolstered by plenty of training done throughout the year at our Tuesday lunchtime Maths Challenge Club. In the end, Leckford Place finished a respectable 37th. Well done to Junhui, Edith, Charlie and Ben!

Words by Graham Hope, Maths teacher