Mathematics

This year the first of our students who worked with the National Curriculum, have reached Year 12. Programs had to be written for all the new courses and, as with any change, there are differences that required some close attention.

Mr Geoff Jamieson Head of Mathematics

Also, with the experience of having now taught the new courses, we will make subtle changes to ensure students receive the best possible delivery of these courses.

This year we had the full implementation of Mathspace, delivered to all courses from Years 7–10. Students use their laptops to access the textbook and any exercises that are set. The program allows staff to easily monitor how much work each student is doing and how successful they are. We can quickly see if there are general trends in a student’s work that requires further teacher input.

During March, Trinity College was the host school for the WA Mathematical Association Have Sum Fun competitions, where we hosted around 30 schools for the senior competition (Years 11 and 12) and also the junior competition (Years 7 and 8). While we were unable to secure a win in either competition, the use of Trinity College as a venue was exceptionally well-received.

The College also played host to the Mathematical Association of WA for their annual two day conference. This conference attracted mathematics teachers from around WA and offered a great variety of professional development in mathematics. This was a most successful event and planning is underway for a repeat in 2017.

Mathematics Week again offered our students the opportunity to be involved in some practical activities. Games of chance, forming a human right angle, QR race, library display of mathematics-based objects and a practical display of Pick’s Theorem were all featured.

We have offered our students a wide variety of extra competitions, challenges and activities. These include Have Sum Fun, Have Sum Fun Online, Australian Mathematics Competition, Australian Mathematics Challenge, Australian Mathematics Olympiad, WA Junior Olympiad, Australian Intermediate Olympiad and Australian Problem Solving Mathematical Olympics and the International Mathematics Modelling Competition.

AUSTRALIAN MATHEMATICS COMPETITION

The 2016 competition results showed a continuation of a very high standard of performance of our students. This competition also attracts entries from some 40 other countries. It is an excellent indicator to confirm our belief in the quality and standard of Mathematics education at Trinity.

This year our students achieved the following results:

1 Prize winner 17 High Distinctions 77 Distinctions 167 Credits

PRIZE

Year 9: Kin Ting (Issac) Poon (9.7)

HIGH DISTINCTION

Year 7: Lucas Siciliano (7.7), Daniel MacRae (7.6), Fraser O’Sullivan (7.2), Anders Phan (7.5), Flynn Tyson (7.4), Lachlan Eames (7.1), Benjamin Fels (7.6)

Year 8: Tomas Petersen (8.2), Matthew Bottega (8.2), Declan Ryan (8.1)

Year 9: Ryan Thompson (9.6), Dejan Bouwhuis (9.1)

Year 10: Joseph Pinto (10.8), Timothy Ludovico (10.3), William Tan (10.7)

Year 11: Jack Meakins (11.2)

Year 12: Matthew De Cinque (12.6)

MATHEMATICS CHALLENGE FOR YOUNG AUSTRALIANS

This competition is only for the top class in each year group and involves answering six questions over a three week period. It is an elite competition where questions tend to be quite demanding with only perfect answers receiving marks according to the marking scheme.

This year our student achieved the following results:

5 High Distinctions 17 Distinctions 37 Credits

HIGH DISTINCTION

Year 10: Thomas Throssell (10.4), Joseph Pinto (10.8), Poh Yu Chai (10.4), David Pham (10.8), William Tan (10.7)

MATHEMATICS PROBLEM SOLVING OLYMPIAD

Year 7 high ability students only

TOP 10% IN AUSTRALIA

Daniel MacRae, Benjamin Fels

AUSTRALIAN INTERMEDIATE MATHEMATICS OLYMPIAD

This involved a four hour examination with the potential to make the Australian Olympiad team.

CREDIT

Year 8: Riley Mattingley (8.2) Year 10: William Tan (10.7)

INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS MODELLING COMPETITION

The most remarkable result was achieved by four Year 12 students under the guidance of Mr Ian Hailes. Three teams — two from Hong Kong and one from the USA — received the highest award. Fourteen teams received the next highest recognition and this included two from Australia. The Trinity College team was one of those two teams. The problem the teams faced was to design a model for the effective planning for payment and insurance cover for world record breaking performances at a track and field event.

MERITORIOUS DESIGNATION

Year 12 team members: Kayvan Gharbi (12.8), Samuel Carbone (12.1), Farruh Mavlonov (12.7), Trong Nguyen (12.8)

I thank the Mathematics staff members for the enthusiastic and cooperative way in which they embrace the curriculum changes that we have been through for the last five years. Adapting to change does require extra time and effort and I believe the Mathematics Learning Area has coped with this exceptionally well.

Mr Geoff Jamieson

Head of Mathematics Have Sum Fun in Gibney Hall

Year 7 World of Maths