Radford takes first prize in maths challenge

By Year 10 Student, Thenuki

On 18 September, a group of Year 10 students had the opportunity to participate in the Burgmann Maths Day. Radford entered two teams of five students each, captained by myself (Radford 2) and Rubin (Radford One), both of which saw commendable success throughout the day.

The Burgmann Maths Day is an annual mathematical competition hosted by Burgmann Anglican School for Year 10 students, where teams from various Canberra and regional schools solve a series of challenges to foster teamwork and a love for mathematics. The event, often described as an extension activity, involves a ranking system and includes challenges like story problems, cross-number puzzles and relays, designed to provide healthy competition and opportunities for students to meet like-minded peers.

The day began with the group challenge, where a set of word problems were to be solved in teams within half an hour. Following this, we engaged in a mental mathematics challenge that I found to be a new and interesting experience. This activity, known as the Swiss Challenge, involves finding patterns in a sequence of numbers. Not only did this test our skills, but it also tested our ability to solve problems under time pressure.

The following activities included a cross-number puzzle and a relay that involved answering as many questions as possible in the limited time we were given.

When it came to tallying up the points, Radford came out on top, with Radford 2 securing first place and taking out the Fibonacci Shield, triumphing over 20 other teams across 10 schools. Radford One was also incredibly successful, securing an impressive 4th place, just shy of the podium.

The event was a wonderful way of learning invaluable skills in mathematics, leadership and teamwork.