The National Young Mathematicians’ Awards Finalists Revealed
Next week sees the grand final of the National Young Mathematicians’ Awards take place at the University of Cambridge and we are pleased to announce the schools who have fought off competition from over 1200 others to make it!
After weeks of battling it out to become the best young mathematicians in the country, the top ten schools have been revealed!
Teams of primary and secondary school children took part in regional heats and semi-finals up and down the country to see who knew the most when it comes to arithmatic and angles, prime numbers and pythagorus, equations and equilaterals!
They were set problem solving tasks and the five highest scoring primary schools and secondary schools will now take part in the grand final on Wednesday 9th January where they will meet maths guru and University Challenge legend, Bobby Seagull!
The five primary school finalists are:
• Boughton Leigh Junior School in Rugby – Jeremy, Elanor Warren, Tobi Akinbo and Lily Smith
• St George’s Weybridge – Felix Clune, Som Shah, Adam Franks and Yuvan Raja
• Elvetham Heath Primary School in Fleet – George Allman, Zac Allin, Hannah Bristow and Katja Landskroon
• Rothersthorpe C of E Primary School in Northampton – Joshua Hamilton, Tinashe Mpenzi, Henry Hewitt, Ruby Finch
• Nelson Primary School in Twickenham – Alina Callendar, Laith Read, Lottie Philips and Henry Jungi
And the five secondary school finalists are:
• Lawrence Sheriff School in Rugby – Ittu Phago, Leo Siby, Pritesh Mistry and Adam Marlow
• John Hampden Grammar School, High Wycombe – Jake Butterfield, Jake Lawson, Will Harmer, Harrison Carter
• Bluecoat Wollaton Academy, Nottingham – Ansh Desai, Bethany Easton, Tawheed Amjad, Genevieve Acton-Phillips
• St John’s on the Hill, Chepstow – Ffion Hillman, Anna Boyle, Wilfred Green, Aidan Kitching
• Altrincham Grammar School for Boys, Altrincham – Alex Volkovoy, Gautham Ravisankar, Yevan Malmuthuge, Ibrahim Jamal
The National Young Mathematicians’ Awards, organised by tuition provider, Explore Learning and NRICH at the University of Cambridge, is in it’s ninth year and attracted a record number of entries this year – in excess of 1200!
Charlotte Gater, Head of Curriculum at Explore Learning says: “We had the highest number of entries this year and so the 10 teams who have made it to the grand final have done incredibly well to not only beat their neighbouring schools but also to get the highest scores in the country.
“We can’t wait to see the excitement of the grand final on the 9th January where the youngsters will display their amazing array of maths skills. Good luck to them all!”
Felix, Som, Adam and Yuvan from St George’s School in Weybridge
The grand final on the 9th January at the University of Cambridge will involve the five primary and secondary school teams competing one last time against one another to be crowned the National Young Mathematicians of the Year by Explore Learning and TV presenter, author and University Challenge legend, Bobby Seagull!
Bobby Seagull says: “I’m really pleased to be the ambassador for this year’s National Young Mathematicians’ Awards. Maths is in my blood and I’m thrilled to be able to inspire the next generation who might one day study at the University of Cambridge themselves – and perhaps appear on University Challenge! Maths is such an integral part of our everyday lives and having competitions like this really encourages children to see the importance of it and excitement that it can bring. I can’t wait to celebrate the children’s success with them.”
Not only will this year’s winners be crowed the best young mathematicians in the country, the two winning teams and eight runners up will receive prizes from Meccano, Letts Revision, i-Top and Sum Fun.
The full list of prizes includes:
For runners up:
– Meccano 5 Model Set – Roadster, with pull back motor and 174 parts to build worth £14.99
– An i-Top each – the next generation of electronic spinning game worth £14.99
– Sum Fun games
– Book bundle from Letts Revision worth £60
For the winners:
– One of the hottest toys on the market, BOXER from Spin Master is your real robot pal, worth £79.99. BOXER is a tiny interactive AI robot buddy filled with technology, fun games, and a lively personality. It includes touch sensors, game activating feature cards and remote control!
– An i-Top each – the next generation of electronic spinning game worth £14.99
– Sum Fun games
– Book bundle from Letts Revision worth £60
Ruth Frett, Head of St John’s on-the-Hill in Chepstow says: “St John’s team is absolutely delighted to have made it through to the final. They are incredibly proud to represent their school in such a prestigious competition and are busy preparing. It is a wonderful opportunity, which has given our children a big boost and inspired the whole school to become better mathematicians.”
Megan Robinson, Headteacher at Elvetham Heath Primary School in Fleet says: “I am so proud of our children who have made it to the final of the National Young Mathematicians’ Awards. How exciting for them to be able to go to Cambridge University too! Maybe one day their hard work and perseverance with Maths will enable them to study at Cambridge University!”
Tracey Hartley, Headteacher of John Hampden Grammar School in High Wycombe says: “We are very excited to be competing in the Grand Final of the National Young Mathematicians’ Awards. Jake, Jake, Will and Harrison are looking forward to tackling the various Maths challenges and working together to achieve success. Many thanks to Mr Dean and Mrs Aylett who have supported the JHGS team on their journey to the Grand Final”
Sian Ward Assistant Headteacher at Nelson Primary School in Twickenham says: “We are delighted to have reached the final of the National Young Mathematicians’ Awards. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and responded well to the feedback from judges to improve their performance in each round. Their hard work and commitment to learning has been rewarded and we look forward to the final at Cambridge.”
Graeme Wright, Headteacher of Altrincham Grammar School for Boys says: “I am delighted that our four Year 8 students have made it through to the final of this prestigious national maths competition organised by the University of Cambridge and Explore Learning. We are incredibly proud of the boys and the whole AGSB community wishes them the best luck, both individually and collectively.”
Amanda Cordell-Edwards from one of the finalist schools, Rothersthorpe School says: “We are proud, thrilled, overjoyed and ecstatic to be going to be Cambridge.”
Schools can enter for 2019 here.
Explore Learning is an award-winning provider of extra tuition for children aged four to 14 with 141 centres located across the UK, taking a unique and personalised approach to maths and English tuition. Since 2001 over 200,000 children have excelled academically, reached their potential and achieved the best possible results with Explore Learning. They are unwavering in their mission to develop a generation of fearless learners; children who will excel in the classroom, be confident in exams and fearless in school and beyond.
About Bobby Seagull: Bobby gained the affection of the British public from his popular appearances leading the Emmanuel College Cambridge team on University Challenge. Bobby is still at Emmanuel, studying for his Doctorate in Mathematical Education whilst also teaching maths at his local school in east London.
His television series with fellow University Challenge contestant Eric Monkman, The Monkman and Seagull Genius Guide to Great Britain is currently being broadcast on BBC2. Bobby’s book, The Life-changing Magic of Numbers is being published in October 2018 by Penguin Random House.
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