On Friday 1st March, eight intrepid Year 10 mathematicians headed off to Thomas Tallis school to take part in the “Year 10 Maths Feast” organised by the Advanced Mathematics Support Programme.

This is a regional competition in which teams of four budding maths prodigies from local schools have to use their technical and teamwork skills to score points. There were four rounds:

Round 1 - "TV Quizzes"
Round 2 - "Calculator Cross-Number"
Round 3 - "Mad Hatters"
Round 4 - "Cubes and Rhombic Dodecahedra"

The questions were tough, and I’m very proud of the way our students applied themselves and learnt how to work together. The team spirit was wonderful, and the results reflect this: “BGS Team B” came fourth, and “BGS Team A” won the competition overall.

The participants were Ashna Adhikari 10YMS, Caleb McCann 10DCC, Charlie Furlong 10DCC, Lev Griffin 10CPB, Lukas Schreiner 10VLT, Naima Mendjeli 10PDH, Ritadyumna Jinka 10VLT, and Urav Sirohi 10PDH.

We were also very ably supported by Malin Karasimov 13KSK, who kindly offered to help add up the scores.

All in all, an excellent day; the only mildly disappointing aspect being that, despite the name of the event, the food on offer was limited to tea and (non-chocolate) biscuits.

Mr Male, Maths Department

The Maths Feast was great! In teams, we solved a series of maths questions in three hours. We had one round of a crossword (but they were numbers, not words) and another consisting of logic, so it wasn't just maths that we did. Another round consisted of constructing a cube and dodecahedron out of paper and tape (see photo), which made sure the “feast” was a bit hands-on too. I would definitely do this again and massive thanks to Mr Male and Malin for giving up their time for us to do this!

Even better, WE CAME FIRST!

Ashna Adhikari, Year 10

The trip was a great opportunity and was a lot of fun. There was a wide variety of Maths questions. My personal favourite was the construction of an Origami dodecahedron and an unusual-looking cube. We used twelve pieces of A6 paper and some sellotape. They were made to mathematical perfection, and we scored full marks for them. Another favourite of mine were the logic questions. They made our entire team think. One round was about combinations of hats three people could wear while complying with two rather basic rules. However basic the rules, the questions did get more complicated but we did as team solve them successfully eventually.

Personally, I was delighted by the fact that we won, which made the trip very worthwhile, and I would certainly recommend this to the next Year 10s. I am very thankful to Mr Male and the Sixth Former Malin for taking the time to organise and conduct this trip.

Urav Sirohi, Year 10

It was heartening to see the students’ enthusiastic attitude to mathematics, and great to see their mathematical skills nurtured as they solved the challenges. They certainly showcased their exceptional mathematical prowess in their collaborative efforts to tackle some quite complicated tasks. Congratulations to the young mathmos* for their superb victory.

Malin Karasimov, Year 13

* “mathmo” is an affectionate slang term used to describe a talented young mathematician.