Account of Maths Competition Final in Ormskirk by student Toby

Noah, Toby and Abdul recently spent the day visiting Edge Hill University (near Liverpool) for the Maths Challenge Grand Final. Isaac was also a member of the team but was unable to make the trip. More than 150 schools from around the country entered the first stage of the competition which involved answering one of two challenging mathematics questions; 50 made it through to the second stage before 12 teams were shortlisted to take part in the grand final.

The students did a fabulous job and really impressed the judges.

A big thank you to Toby in 9M for writing this fantastic, detailed and entertaining write up:

Earlier this year, a national Maths Competition for year 9s was announced, and my friends and I, Noah, Abdul, and Isaac decided to participate. Alongside three other teams from Fairfield, we entered the first round, in which we had to make a video about one of two provided maths problems. My team (Gregor Isn’t Grinning) and one other team from the school made it through to the second round, in which we were instructed to make a poster about one of two new maths problems. This time, only our team made it through to the next round, the final (we were also the only team in Bristol to get through). This meant that we had to travel up to Ormskirk (just north of Liverpool) to present our solution at Edge Hill University.

The relatively large distance meant we had to take an early train up north, so my team and I (without Isaac, who unfortunately couldn’t make it) met our maths teacher Mr. Brooks at Bristol Temple Meads station just before our 7am train. Our three trains to Ormskirk passed relatively uneventfully as we hastily learned a script that Noah and I had cobbled together a few days before. When we eventually arrived at the university, we were allowed some practice time before our presentation (due to arriving late, we had missed some extra activities such as the campus tour).

Before long, it was time to present. We were escorted up to a classroom, in which four judges were waiting. We hastily donned our costumes and began (Abdul was playing a nerdy fellow called Alan, so he was wearing his school uniform; Noah was dressed in a cap, his dad’s football shirt and stuff like that, as he was playing a boisterous lad called Jeff; and I was dressed as an elderly lady called Mrs. Sequence – not the most dignity-inducing experience, to be honest). Our performance consisted half of explanation (assisted by a PowerPoint Noah had assembled) and half of a slightly absurd acting demonstration.

The reception was generally positive: one judge seemed very impressed and enthusiastic, another appeared quite intrigued, a third seemed slightly disapproving, and the final one didn’t say anything at all. After asking us some questions, the judges let us go and we had lunch outside. We were allowed into a room, where a staff member showed us this cool robot which danced and played air guitar and stuff like that.

Shortly, it was time for the judges to present the results. Out of the top 12 teams in the country present, we were unfortunately not in the top 3, but one of the judges informed us afterwards that it had been a “fight” about whether or not to award us a prize, and complimented us on our acting skills.

Then, we left the university and prowled around Ormskirk with Mr Brooks. We stopped in a local park and enjoyed a game of cricket (played with pine cones and our rolled-up poster), followed by an ominous game of tag. Our train journeys back to Bristol were fun, especially when Mr Brooks beat Noah at chess.

Thanks for reading.