Four girls from The Queen’s School in Chester recently won the UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) Team Challenge regional final against 18 other schools from across the Northwest.
After four rounds of demanding mathematical problem solving, Erinna Anthony and Leandra De Kiewit in Year 8, along with Raka Chattopadhyay and Katya Clish in Year 9, emerged victorious and qualified for the national finals in June.
The UKMT has been running the Maths Team Challenge since 2003. The competition is designed to challenge the most able mathematicians in Years 8 and 9 in mental arithmetic and problem solving.
Head of Maths at The Queen’s School Ian Magill said: “The girls were calm and confident and exhibited solid team cohesion from the outset, communicating well together. I am really proud of what they have achieved so far and they certainly deserve their place in the National Finals. My thanks go to Mr Godfrey who coached them in preparation for the event.”
The National Finals will be held at the Royal Horticultural Halls on 17th June and will include a Group round where teams work together to solve problems, a Cross Number round where teams work in pairs to solve a puzzle, a Shuttle round where teams compete against the clock to answer a series of questions, with the answer to each question dependent on the previous answer, and a Relay round where pairs take it in turn to solve problems, running between the questions.
The national final will also include a Poster Competition where teams are sent information in advance of the event about a topic for research to make a poster.
• In addition to the UKMT news, the Maths Department is also celebrating after a 100% of the girls who took their Maths GCSE early in January- around a third of the year group - passed at either an 8 or 9 grade. They are now continuing their mathematical studies with a FSMQ in Additional Maths before moving on to A-levels in September.
