Faculty of Mathematics & Computing
T
his was an incredibly tough year for all our students and the whole faculty. After a term of disjointed teaching and learning, we entered the second lockdown. Blended learning and remote teaching took its toll on progress through the course and the assessment programme. We were full of sympathy for the examination cohorts who prepared for their January mock exams, only to have the goal posts moved further and further into the future, eventually sitting rounds of assessments in March and May 2021. Those students should be incredibly proud of how they rose to that unprecedented challenge. As the year progressed, we attempted to keep as much normalcy as possible for our students. We still managed to hold the UKMT Junior Mathematics Challenge (Years 7-8) and Intermediate Mathematics Challenge (Years 9-11) remotely, with students sitting the competition at home, online. All Year 12 mathematicians and a handful of Year 13 mathematicians took part in the UKMT Senior Mathematics Challenge in school, with nine students gaining certificates in the British Mathematical Olympiad follow on round and Velian Velikov (Year 12) and Linus Luu (Year 13) gaining certificates of Distinction in the BMO2. For the faculty, the final third of the school year was a blur of assessments, marking binges, and a slightly unusual farewell to our examination classes. We continued to teach our remaining students and all missed the usual activities weeks. It was with a sense of relief that we said goodbye to 2020-21, hoping that things would return to some kind of normal after the summer break. I am always proud of the way staff and students put their all into teaching and learning of mathematics and computing, but I think they deserve to feel especially proud after the year we had!
Meera Lawrence
Head of Mathematics
Balkan Mathematics Olympiad
Congratulations to Year 13 student, Linus Luu, who earned a Silver medal in the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad. The UK was invited as a guest nation to this prestigious international competition in early November, and Linus was one of only six students selected to represent his country. He answered two exceptionally difficult questions completely correctly, demonstrating once again his formidable mathematical knowledge, skill and intuition. Olavian Mathematical Newsletter This latest edition (3rd) brings readers more articles looking at a range of exciting topics. Features include: Fawaz Shah (Old Olavian) – ‘Maths in the real world’; Mrs Munday (Head of KS5 Mathematics) – ‘False Proofs’; Adrian Manickarajah – ‘The Importance of Statistics’; Tyrone Ziwa – ‘The Josephus Problem’.
BEBRAS Despite Covid restrictions, all students studying Computer Science successfully completed the annual UK Bebras Computational Thinking Challenge, organised by the University of Oxford’s Department of Computer Science, and Hertford College. We are pleased to announce a total of 141 students received Distinctions and another 136 obtained Merits. Congratulations to all students who have participated and special congratulations to Henry Etherington,Year 7; Patrick Williams, Year 9; Samuel Iranloye, Year 11, and Pradhay Amarnath, Year 12, for receiving the best results inschool for their age group. Computer Science in Action Day Year 12 Computer Science students attended this event virtually from home. In five sessions experts from academia and industry revealed computer science at its very best and took our students to the cutting edge in the fields of AI and machine learning. Students were able to
44 – Olavian 2021
