Every term our Mathematics department runs a Maths Challenge Club, open to pupils from our 13s (Year 9) to Upper Sixth. It is so popular that Mr Lee (Head of Mathematics), Ms Willder and Ms Rautela now have to run it two days a week – Monday and Wednesday lunch times!
The club welcomes keen mathematicians of all ages across the Senior School and of all abilities as it works to prepare pupils to participate in a number of national and regional mathematics competitions. It also assists our Sixth Form Further Mathematicians to prepare for the MAT/STEP examinations that are used by some universities, in particular Oxbridge, as a basis for conditional offers.
Members of Maths Challenge Club learn great communication and team-working skills and also acquire confidence, often resulting in pupils from lower sets moving up to higher ones
Tony Lee, Head of Mathematics
Less obviously, the long-term qualitative benefits of attending Maths Challenge Club are manifold. Mr Lee, Head of Mathematics, is quick to point out that, ‘Members of Maths Challenge Club learn great communication and team working skills and also acquire confidence, often resulting in pupils from lower sets moving up to higher ones.’ Challenged to think out of the box, they are faced with puzzles that they would not normally encounter in their normal lessons but that do nonetheless support the curriculum.
This week four members of Maths Challenge Club, above from left to right, Aika (13s), Sam (15s), Zeb (L6) and Christian (U6), were selected to take place in round one of the Hans Woyda competition. This is a well-respected and hotly contested competition that is run in London and takes place between 64 schools, from both the state and independent sectors. Our Harrodian mathematicians competed in their year groups against Wellington College and the competition followed a similar format to the TV programme, University Challenge with times of 30, 60 and 90 seconds to beat! They lost this time in a very tight competition but we wish them all the best as they proceed to the second round.
In the past, Harrodian has beaten some tough opponents from highly selective schools and always provides stiff competition. Our teams are carefully selected, with players changed round to offer more opportunity and reserve players on standby too!
Other excitement on the horizon for our mathematicians includes the Team Maths Challenge 2019, organised by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT), poster above. Our Sixth Formers will be taking part on 6th November, our 13s, 14s and 15s (Years 9 to 11) on 7th February and our Upper Prep pupils (11s and 12s/ Years 7 and 8) on 30th April.
Our 14s and 15s (Years 10 and 11) will also be competing in Maths Feast, a challenge organised by the Further Mathematics Support Programme (FMSP) with over 70 events taking place across England in February and March and designed to challenge pupils in their problem-solving skills.
We look forward to following the progress that our Harrodians make through these Maths challenges and competitions, so watch this space for updates!