Pupils who attend Problem Solving Club recently took part in the UK Maths Trust Intermediate Maths Challenge, a national competition testing problem solving skills. We are very impressed with these results, especially from our S1/2 pupils as this competition level is aimed at S3-4. All worked very hard, taking away past papers to practise in their own time, and showed a lot of resilience with this year’s fairly tough set of questions.
Pupils L->R are: Roddy F, Eilidh Mc, Tanisha S, Georgie S*, Grace S*, Lily F, Agsayan P*.
Starred pupils, plus Nicole E (not pictured) earned a Gold Certificate and such a high score that they receive an invite to the next round of this competition – an accolade enjoyed by only a small percentage of entrants. We wish them all the best as they prepare for this next round.
Our Enterprising Maths team (Liam S3, Nicole S3, Erin S4, Bogdan S4) put in a stellar performance representing East Ayrshire at the national final at Glasgow Science Centre. Competing against 53 teams from across Scotland, they finished an impressive 29th place. We’re very proud of their achievements and look forward to having Liam and Nicole back in the team next year as S4s.
Three of our senior pupils have achieved prizes for UK Maths Trust Senior Kangaroo. This is an invitation-only follow-on round from the UKMT Senior Maths challenge in which they previously performed outstandingly. Chloe (Higher) achieved a Gold certificate whilst Shahzaib and Cody (Advanced Higher) achieved Silver certificates. Preparation for and participation in the competition was done entirely in pupils’ own time, alongside studying for their prelims – they have done a great job of managing their time.
One of our dedicated S1s, Georgie, attended the Maths Circle at Edinburgh University this weekend where she enjoyed tackling various challenging maths and logic puzzles, including the Towers of Hanoi in this picture. Georgie is looking forward to taking part in various other mathematical enrichment opportunities in the future.
On Tuesday Bogdan, Erin, Robyn and Abigail did a great job representing the school and, indeed, East Ayrshire at the Enterprising Maths National Final. They had fun exploring the science centre at lunchtime, even challenging Mr Craig to a game of 4-way air hockey!
The Enterprising Maths competition took place yesterday.
Our team (Joe-S4, Jessica-S4, Robyn-S3 and Demi-S3) did very well, were very resilient and were unlucky not to gain a place in the national final. Thanks to S6 prefects for helping out!
William McIlvanney Campus
