Maths A dictionary definition

from Emma, Becci, Susan, Richard and Dale, staff from the maths department

Every year around one third of the pupils in school enter the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust’s Individual Challenges – JMC (Junior – aimed at First and Second Form), IMC (Intermediate – for Third to Fifth Form) and SMC (Senior - Sixth Form). Coram are not left out of this, with other providers offering a First Maths Challenge (Y34) and the Primary Maths Challenge, which all of our Year 5 and 6 pupils had a go at this year.

The UKMT challenges involve 25 multiple choice questions, “designed to make students think”, to be solved without calculator assistance. Most pupils approach the challenge with enthusiasm. Top set students and Sixth Formers studying maths are usually given little option but to be entered, and some Set two students do occasionally volunteer. We even recently had a Sixth Former participate twice, despite being a languages and arts student. She achieved bronze both times.

We in the maths department take an approach that aligns closely with the reported sentiments of several famous people:

“Challenge yourself; it’s the only path that leads to growth.” – Morgan Freeman

“If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?” – T.S. Eliot

“It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein

Our students have nothing to lose and everything to gain by rising to the challenge.

Success in the initial challenge (JMC, IMC or SMC) is rewarded by bronze, silver and gold certificates, and the highest performing students may be invited to participate in the next round, taking either a paper named the ‘Kangaroo’ or, at the very top, the Olympiad paper for the relevant age group. In recent years, we have had several stunning performances. There was Jamie, from our Autism Resource, who qualified twice for the Intermediate Olympiad, with distinction in Fifth Form when he also smashed the SMC a year early, and subsequently gained distinction in the British Maths Olympiad Round 1 (BMO1).

In the same year group was Kathy, who in Fifth Form got 24 out of 25 IMC questions correct, and joined Jamie in gaining distinction (and a prize) in the Intermediate Olympiad paper, SMC a year early, and also reached the BMO1.

Two years below them was Dori, who reached the Intermediate Olympiad two years’ running, and was subsequently invited to attend a UKMT maths summer school.

Meanwhile, in the bumper year 2020 when our Senior Team won their way to the Team Challenge finals in London, Aldrich, Anson and Oliver all took the BMO1, with Aldrich earning a distinction.

Most recently is David, now in Second Form, but whose potential was recognised when he was only in Year 4 in Coram, enabling to have earned five JMC certificates (one silver, four gold) with two Kangaroo merits, and full marks in the 25th anniversary special challenge, plus IMC silver and Kangaroo merit last year. This year he’s gone for the hattrick, and has achieved bronze at SMC, silver at IMC (and another Kangaroo merit, with 24 out of 25 correct answers), and gold at JMC, qualifying for the Junior Olympiad paper (results awaited at time of going to press). With three other Second Form students also taking this year’s Junior Kangaroo paper, future successes appear to be assured.

https://www.ukmt.org.uk/challenges

Try these three mind-benders from this year’s JMC, IMC and SMC respectively:

Geography Third Year Malham Trip

Mayah Bristow

When we got to Malham Cove, we started by getting into partners and writing down the different land use in Malham. This helped us to understand what parts were tourist oriented, and what parts were mainly for locals. When we got to the end of the street, we were able to look out onto the incredible views before us. We could see for miles. We then sat down and drew what we could see so we could analyse it and understand why it was there. We managed to draw diagrams of limestone cliffs, rivers and hills, which really helped with our understanding of how the area was formed. We then walked for a few miles, up stairs, hills, and rocky terrain until we finally reached the top of the limestone pavement. We drew diagrams of a piece of limestone each, and made sure to measure a scale so we knew the size when we got back to school to help us in lessons. After a quick stop for lunch, we continued our hike through valleys and hills, and we even came across a few animals along the way. When we reached the car park again, we used a table to record the first two letters on cars’ registration plates. We did this so we could track how far cars had travelled to get to Malham, based on where they were registered. I really enjoyed the trip to Malham as it helped my understanding of how limestone was formed millions of years ago, and I enjoyed walking through the fields and hills and taking in my surroundings.

Leia Askew

At the beginning of our trip to Malham, we took note of the land use on either side of the road as we walked through the village.

We then continued to walk until we reached the cove, and sat down to sketch it. After we had climbed the many stairs to the top, we chose part of the limestone pavement to draw - the views were beautiful here. Once we had eaten our lunch, we set back off walking. The walk was quite long and tiring but the scenery definitely made up for it! After a couple of group photos and lots of hills we got back to the car park to collect the car registration data. I enjoyed the trip to Malham because it helped me to gain a better understanding of how the limestone was originally formed.

A-Level Science

Following the chemistry department tradition, A-Level students completed their final practical by making their own silver mirror flasks.