Horsham pupils namedbest young maths minds

The year six pupils, including Tala Hancock-Clark, Sophie Wythers, George Ingram and Josh Hayes were presented with their prize by the famous statistician, Sir David Spiegelhalter of Cambridge University and Carey Ann Dodah, Head of Curriculum at Explore Learning.

They fought off competition from 1,300 teams across the UK to be named the best young maths minds in the country.

Now in its fifth year, the contest is run by tuition provider, Explore Learning, and the NRICH Project at the University of Cambridge. The main aim of the competition is to encourage children to see the fun that maths can bring while inspiring them to be competitive.

Carey Ann Dodah, Head of Curriculum at Explore Learning says: “We’ve had more entrants into the National Young Mathematicians’ Awards than ever before, making it the toughest year yet so the team from Holbrook have done so well to be crowned champions! They really impressed the judges with their enthusiasm, their teamwork and their ability to get to the root of the problems in a tactical and logical way.”

The National Young Mathematicians’ Awards is a very prestigious event and the only maths competition in the country specifically for primary school teams.

Tala, Sophie, George and Josh completed three rounds of math challenges before being named the winners. They had to solve a multi-layered, high-level problem and were assessed on their ability to be systematic in their approach, to work well as a team and to get to the root of the problem.

The other teams that took part in the final included Mortimer Primary School from South Shields, Cheadle Hulme School from near Stockport, Barry Primary School in Northampton and Ashton House Primary School in Isleworth.

Ian Holmes, Head Teacher at Holbrook Primary School says: “We are absolutely thrilled and delighted for our team to have won this year’s National Young Mathematicians’ Awards. We are very proud of the children who are a real credit to the school. They really embodied the ethos of the school which is encapsulated in our motto ‘Aiming High, Succeeding Together’.”

Explore Learning, the organisers of the awards, ran maths workshops with schools throughout the country. They are an award-winning provider of extra tuition for children aged 5 to 14 with 104 centres located across the UK.

All their courses are tailored to each child’s individual needs and classes have proved extremely popular for their fun and vibrant atmosphere that encourages children to love learning.

For more information visit www.explorelearning.co.uk.

Pictured back row (L-R): Mr Holmes (Head), Sue Hayes, Lucy Wythers, David Spiegelhalter, Nicola Ingram, Carey Ann Dodah from Explore Learning, Hayley Clark.

Front Row Children: Josh Hayes, Sophie Wythers, George Ingram and Tala Hancock-Clark

Report and picture contributed by Kat Adams.