Secondary Maths Challenge Success for Hethersett Academy

On Tuesday 27th June, secondary academies from Inspiration Trust met at the Teaching School Hub for a day to take part in the second inter-school Maths Challenge. Teams of pupils from year 7 to year 10 from each school worked together to solve mathematical problems and compete to be crowned maths champions.

The day started with a maths team relay race in which pupils had to work collectively to solve maths questions; each problem generated a variable which was needed to solve the following problem. Year 7 had to find a variable for Year 8 and Year 8 for Year 9, all the way up to Year 10 who submitted the final answer. Pupils worked well as a team and were rewarded for their efforts with points for every correct variable they found. 

Tom Marjoram, Maths Outreach Lead, said:

“It was wonderful to see all of the schools come together once again for a day of mathematical competition and enrichment. All of the students were excellent ambassadors for their schools and enthusiastic throughout the day. We can’t wait for next year's challenge!“

The second challenge involved statistical sampling. A sample of cubes, hidden in a bag,  was given to the teams and their challenge was to use capture and recapture skills to try to calculate the number of cubes in the bag and the proportion of different coloured cubes.

Round three involved the eliminator round where pupils in each year group were asked quick-fire maths questions, aiming to stay in the game by answering as many questions as possible without a mistake. Incorrect answers led to elimination, and with each successful round pupils gained more points toward their school’s overall total.

Nicola Coe, Director of Maths said:

“the eliminator round is really challenging for pupils because they have to work out answers quickly and accurately every time; one tiny slip and you are out! It was brilliant to see everyone taking part and working hard to win points for their team.”

Deduction and critical thinking skills were the next skills to be tested. Pupils competed in a Da Vinci code tournament; a code-breaking game where the aim is to guess your opponents' code before they can guess yours. They also competed in the calculating smartly event; pupils had to use fluency and reasoning skills to answer mathematical questions in the minimum amount of time to win points. Time pressure is always a challenge in maths and continuous quick thinking is very tiring!

Before the final task of the day, pupils took part in the padlock challenge. A padlock code was hidden in maths problems for each year group, by unlocking the padlock, teams could earn valuable bonus points! Speed and accuracy were essential, to be able to race against other schools to see who would get the correct answer first.

The practical challenge was the last challenge of the day; pupils had to work together to measure water accurately using only a set of scaled bottles. How can you measure 4 litres of water using only a 5 litre and 3 litre bottle? Initially, pupils worked together to find creative ways to meet the challenge, but in a final twist, one pupil had to represent their team and work alone against the clock. Well done to all the pupils that were asked to represent their school.

Whilst the pupils were competing in their challenge, the teachers from each of the schools were completing puzzles to be crowned the winner of the teacher challenge. This prize was awarded to Mrs Christmas from Jane Austen College.

The day culminated in a prize-giving ceremony, where there were individual prizes for the eliminator tasks with each winning pupil being awarded a book and a team prize for the highest-scoring school. Third place was given to Thetford Academy, second place to Jane Austen College, and the winner of the 2023 Secondary Maths Challenge was Hethersett Academy.

All pupils worked hard on the day and took part in challenging and thought-provoking maths activities that will hopefully inspire them to continue studying maths into the future.