A Festival in Maths as RGS Pupils Rise to the Challenge

RGS mathematicians have been very busy taking part in Maths Challenges and attending an afternoon of Maths at The University of Worcester Arena.

Second in the Maths department, Mr Stephen Alexander, has provided a report below about the Intermediate Maths Challenge. Year Ten pupil, Issy Pottinger, then explains about attending Maths Fest:

Middle School Mathematicians Are Up To The Challenge!

In the week before Half term, over 100 RGS Worcester pupils from Years Nine, Ten and Eleven took part in the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge. They faced a selection of 25 mathematical puzzles in this long-running national competition. Originally set up in the 1990’s by Dr Tony Gardiner, we were sad to hear the news that he died earlier this year. However, he leaves a lasting legacy with these Challenge papers sat by many thousands of school pupils from across the UK each year.

We were delighted to receive a strong set of results again this year with 68 pupils achieving certificates, including 11 Gold Certificates. Very well done to Joe Cowling, Denis Goodwillie-Green (Year Nine), Sihan Fu, Rachel Crookall, Laurence Curtis, Issy Pottinger, Jai Sanehi, Anya Wood, Ozzy Beswick, Sienna Heath (Year Ten) and Jacob Hartley (Year Eleven) who all gained this top award.

Sihan’s performance was particularly impressive – he achieved 121 out of 135 marks, which is the best Maths Challenge result achieved by an RGS pupil in recent years and means that he has qualified for the follow-on Olympiad competition later this term. We wish him the best of luck.

 Mr Alexander, Second in the Maths department

A Festival of Maths!

On Tuesday 27 February, eight mathematicians from Year Ten set out to The University of Worcester Arena for an afternoon full of Maths.

We started the competition with some TV math shows, ranging from ‘The 1% Club’ to estimating how many cats are in the UK. Our next challenge was a crossword puzzle ranging in difficulty but at least we had our calculators! Penultimately, my favourite challenge was logic, using ideas of different worlds and most of all hats. The last event of the afternoon was a construction challenge. Building a dodecahedron out of card became a struggle for some but, in the end, we were successful. From our excellent all-round performance, we managed to achieve podium places with both teams placing in the top 3 and the boys winning 1st place.

Issy Pottinger, Year Ten