Marvellous mathematical minds

College News Marvellous mathematical minds

A POLICY of the Mathematics Department and'the College, is to expose All Saints' students to a wide variety of challenges and competitions. Consequently, the Mathematics Department has entered students from several year groups into the Australian Mathematics Competition, International Competition for Schools and Assessments, Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad, Senior Mathematics Competition, Have Sum Fun and Western Australian Junior Mathematics Olympiad, among others.

The calibre of students who were entered, and in some cases specifically invited, ensured All Saints' College students dominated the mathematics competitions in Western Australia. They won many competitions and received High Distinctions, Prizes and Medals.

An unprecedented set of results in the history of Have Sum Fun, saw All Saints' students in Years 5 to 12 achieve first place in the annual Mathematical Association of Western Australia (MAWA) Have Sum Fun competitions across all three divisions; Primary, Lower Secondary and Upper Secondary.

More recent events included the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) which saw Ferris Xu (Year 11) receive a Medal, Xin Zheng Tan (Year 9) receive a Prize, and Andrew Korol (Year 7) receive the Prudence Award as well as a Prize. A Prize is awarded to the top 1% of students in the AMC, the Prudence Award is awarded to the student with the highest number of consecutive correct answers, and Medals are awarded to about the top 0.01 % of students who sat the AMC. These three students were presented with their Medals and Prizes at two separate awards ceremonies held at the University of WA, organised by the Australian Mathematics Trust.

The International Competitions for Assessment and Schools (ICAS), a one-hour problem solving competition, was another success for our mathematics students. Three students were awarded Medals for achieving the top score in the State for their year group. As well as these, three High Distinctions (top 1%) and 16 Distinctions (top 10%) were awarded to students in Years 7 to 12.

The annual Western Australian Junior Mathematics Olympiad was held in November at the University of Western Australia and is the main Olympiad for Year 9 students. In 2008, three students from Year 9 including Monica Leslie, Xin Zheng Tan and Brandon Loo were joined by Year 7 student Edward Yoo to form a team. They competed against 55 teams from across the State and were outstanding on the day, gaining an overall second placing. Two students also achieved the third highest score of the day for the individual component of the competition.

Mrs Monique Ellement Mathematics Extension Teacher

National Mathematics Talent Quest

IN Term 2, Junior School students in the Years 4 to 6 extension mathematics groups worked on the Mathematical Association of Western Australia (MAWA) Mathematics Talent Quest. All groups submitted a high standard of entries into the state-wide competition.

THE Quest involved students working in small groups on an open-ended mathematical investigation in which each group decided on how they would present their findings. One group of Year 5 students including Bronwen Anderson, Joel Bendotti and Heather KostiwMcFarlane chose to investigate Symmetrical Time. This involved investigating symmetrical digit patterns in the 24-hour digital clock.

They were very thorough and went beyond their original brief, investigating vertical and horizontal mirror symmetry within the 24hour clock. They produced a model digital clock and presented their findings in a small booklet.

This group achieved an excellent result in the MAWA competition, winning first place in the State for their year group. They received some even better news when their entry was selected by MAWA to be submitted into the National Mathematics Talent Quest.

This competition, held each year during Term 3, included entries from across the country. The students were thrilled to have their entry chosen and waited with quiet anticipation to hear how successful they were in the national competition. When they arrived back at school afterthe October holidays, a letter awaited them. Imagine the students' excitement when they discovered they had won the national competition for their year group -a fantastic achievement!

Bronwen, Joel and Heather were presented with their National Mathematics Talent Quest certificates and a special memento badge at a Junior School assembly. They look forward to competing in the MAWA Talent Quest again in 2009.

Mr Philip Randall Junior School Curriculum Coordinator