News
Monday afternoon saw the Year 5 Inter-School Maths Challenge hosted by Belmont in the Proctor Hall, involving 76 children from 19 different schools; this was led by the excellent Douglas Buchanan from DCBEAGLE Challenges. The young mathematicians participated in a variety of problem solving tasks including activities such as:
‘Mystery Numbers’ – effectively pseudo-algebra in which the children have to work out the missing number based on given clues.
‘The Correct Order’ – an activity based primarily around the concept of place value and number properties.
‘Fill Them In’ – this involved the children applying their knowledge of rotation and translation of shapes to carefully piece together a jigsaw with pentominoes.
‘Make 24’ – this relied on skills similar to those seen in the popular TV show Countdown.
‘Broken Calculators’ – students were restricted with regard to the numbers they were allowed to use on a calculator, relying on their knowledge of the order of operations to form a given answer.
Hayden Cohen, Hiroshi Fueno, Henry Margossian and Jaik Parmar made up the Belmont team, with a pair managing to finish 4th overall, a truly fantastic achievement given the particularly high standard of opposition present on the day. I am also extremely grateful to those Year 8 pupils who acted as markers for the event, with Mr. Buchanan describing them as a credit to our school and “taking responsibility by the horns”.
An entertaining and educational afternoon was had by all, this event proving to be a great success as it has been for the many years that Douglas has visited Belmont. Well done to all involved!
Ollie McGuinness
