Maths

from The Portcullis 2020-2022

Valete

The worst of the pandemic may now seem like a distant memory, but I would never have thought that debates surrounding exponential growth, the R-rate and logarithmic scales would have become an almost daily topic of discussion for many of us. The global pandemic has elevated these mathematical terms to a position even the wildest of numerical optimists could not have hoped for, and we can safely say that never has the study of mathematics been so important to society. For my part, I am incredibly proud of my team of Maths teachers and the students of Emanuel who have not only showed some great resilience in the toughest educational setting we will likely ever see — navigating our school community through the trials of the pandemic and the post-lockdown world beyond — but who are also developing into a group of fine mathematicians and problem solvers.

Online Success

As the world moved ‘online’ over the past two years, we in the Maths Department are grateful to have access to some of the best online resources in education. Out of over 10,000 schools using ‘Dr Frost’ — the worldwide online mathematics platform Emanuel is ranked, at the time of writing this, 42nd. On ‘Hegarty Maths’ in the past year, students at Emanuel have answered a staggering 472,808 questions correctly!

Farhan (8RDC) must get a special mention. Farhan is the youngest student in the world to have completed every task on ‘Hegarty’ and is currently ranked 6th on Dr Frost (out of nearly one million students across the globe!). We salute this incredible achievement. But it is of course the achievements of all the students at Emanuel that have seen the school elevate to one of the top performing schools on ‘Dr Frost’ and ‘HegartyMaths’.

Numbers at A Level

The number of students opting to study Mathematics and Further Mathematics at A Level has nearly doubled in the past three years. We are especially encouraged by the increase in the number of female students opting to study Mathematics at a higher level. It is the intelligence and creativity of engineers, scientists and mathematicians that will really impact the future of our society and it is crucial that we harness the talents of all students in Maths from a diverse range of societal backgrounds to see the most significant gains. For too long women have been severely under represented in STEM subjects and careers, but not anymore at Emanuel. The group of girls pursuing Mathematics and Further Mathematics at A Level at Emanuel is truly inspiring, and the collaborative working environment that we see between the girls and boys in these A Level classes gives me great hope for the future.

Senior Mathematics

In the time since the last edition of The Portcullis in 2019, Sixth Form Mathematics has continued to flourish at Emanuel. For those students who find the subject challenging, there is a thriving afterschool club that has regularly attracted twenty or more enthusiasts. At the other end of the spectrum we have witnessed a number of spectacular achievements. Izzy and Ibs, who left in 2019, are now both studying mathematical-based degrees at Cambridge. And of the 2020 leavers, Siddiq is reading Mathematics at Oxford, Luke is at Cambridge studying Engineering, and Joe demonstrated just how fickle the process can be, by miraculously not getting an offer from Cambridge. Billy and Violet, who left Emanuel in 2021, are studying Economics and Chemistry at Cambridge and Oxford respectively, and this year, Edward (U6AEM) and Hetty (U6ARW) both have offers from Oxford to read mathematicalbased degrees.

Easy as Pi

2022 saw the return of the famous ‘Pi Day’ at Emanuel, which was subsequently turned into ‘Pi Week’!

On the 14th of March (3.14), pupils celebrated ‘Pi Day’ by getting involved in a range of activities throughout the week. Well done to Darya (8RDC) who won the Pi Baking competition, and to Farhan (8RDC), who won the Pi Recital competition (managing to recite 81 digits of Pi without hesitation — very impressive!). Oscar (6CAL) and Dougie (6CAL) were the first to track down all the clues and crack the code for the ‘Emanuel Pi Hunt’. Pupils also enjoyed a Pi-themed lunch and various other activities in form time and lessons.

Junior Maths Challenge

In April 2022, over 200 pupils across Years 6, 7 and 8 participated in the nationwide UKMT Junior Maths Challenge. Emanuel saw the best set of results the school has ever had, with 32 students being awarded Gold, 58 students awarded Silver and 92 students awarded Bronze. Congratulations to all the students who represented the school, in particular Millie (6CAL) and Isabelle (7CB) for achieving Best in Year, and Callum (8RDC) for achieving Best in School.

In the last UKMC Senior Team Challenge before the pandemic, held in November 2019 — and in what can only be described as a truly remarkable team effort — Joe (U6PMM), Siddiq (U6HHM), Billy (U6SKR) and Jeanne (11BJR) managed to score 168 out of 186 points! Emanuel finished in sixth place out of forty-two schools, just one point behind Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Barnet, and only five points behind the winners from City of London Boys School. This was a truly extraordinary performance, and they deserve every commendation.

The Mathematics department would like to congratulate Joe (U6PMM), Siddiq (U6HHM) and Lucy (10RCW) for achieving a distinction in the British Mathematical Olympiad Round 1 (BMO1). The BMO1 examination lasts three and a half hours, and consists of six extremely challenging questions, acting as the preliminary stage to select the British Mathematics team.