Kingsley School host and sponsor the North Devon Royal Institution Masterclass series

Thirty talented North Devon mathematicians from six local secondary schools are celebrating after completing six Saturday morning Royal Institution Maths Masterclasses at Kingsley School, Bideford, after being nominated by their teachers from Park School, Pilton School, Great Torrington School, Bideford College, Shebbear College and Kingsley School.

The classes have run from 10am–12:30pm on six consecutive Saturdays at Kingsley School and concluded this weekend with a presentation event. Jane Whittaker, Local Councillor for Torridge attended the event to present the certificates. The 30 students will now be part of the Royal Institution Alumni and be invited to future events.

Royal Institution Masterclasses are series of enrichment workshops. Each session is led by enthusiastic speakers from Industry, Academia and Education. They offer students in-depth investigations in topics outside of the school curriculum, combining theory with interactive exploration. The aim is to open the student’s eyes to the world of mathematics, allowing them to deeply explore a range of ideas and applications and hopefully to inspire them to continue their engagement in these areas.

The programme for the North Devon Series has consisted of the following Masterclasses:

10th March – Flowers to Fine Art, led by Dr Jenny Sharp, a lecturer in Mathematics from the University of Plymouth. Jenny led the students on a journey of discovery, starting with Fibonacci and ending with the Golden Ratio. Students drew accurate spirals and measured themselves, discovering if they were proportioned in the Golden Ratio.

17th March – Linear Programming, led by Luke Cole from Saltash. Students were taught how to maximise profits in real-life business examples, as Luke taught them real-life business strategies for optimisation. This is a subject that is not taught until Further Mathematics A level.

21st April – Guesstimation, led by Dr Martin Lavelle, a theoretical physicist and lecturer in Mathematics from University of Plymouth. Martin introduced students to complex indices questions and showed students how to manipulate powers. He then gave them strategies to calculate using very large numbers and gave practical tips to use in high-level job interview tasks.

28th April – Graph Theory, led by Matt Child and Sarah Parsons from Kingsley School Bideford. Students were introduced to Graphs and Networks, a topic which is not taught until further Mathematics A level. Students started by looking at the famous Bridges of Konigsberg problem and finished with the travelling postman problem, where students needed to find the most efficient way to travel between destinations.

5th May – Magical Maths, led by Ben Sparks. Ben works for the Further Maths Support Network and is based at the University of Bath. Ben is an inspirational speaker and delivers talks all over the world. Students were shown how to perform numerous mathematical tricks including mind reading and card tricks. Ben also gave students tips on how to perform magic.

Ben delivered a further talk, ‘The Creation of Number’ in the afternoon for interested mathematicians. The participant’s ages ranged from 8 years old to 80 years old with all attendees having a common interest in mathematics. Ben asked the audience ‘Were numbers created or discovered by humans?’ We were then led on a journey through time, investigating how our number system has evolved, ending with complex numbers and an explanation of the Mandlebrot set.

12th May was the celebration event where students worked on a set of problem solving activities led by a group of Sixth Form students from Kingsley School. Parents were then invited to a presentation event led by Mrs Christine Hamilton, the Head of Mathematics at Kingsley School Bideford. Jane Whittaker, Torridge Local Councillor attended to present the certificates. Parents were also invite for lunch at the school.

The head of mathematics at Kingsley School, Mrs Christine Hamilton, said: ‘Before now, the nearest Royal Institution Mathematics Masterclass series were in Exeter or Plymouth and I didn’t think that was right! Kingsley School Bideford has brought these Maths Masterclasses to North Devon by fully sponsoring these free enrichment experience for local students in North Devon. Growing up, I had a passion for maths and it has been a privilege to bring this opportunity to Bideford. All of our speakers just wanted to share exciting and brilliant ideas with the students and we have been very fortunate to work with some really great and well-respected speakers for this Masterclass series.’

Kingsley School headmaster Mr Pete Last added: ‘I am immensely proud of our maths department at Kingsley School and I am very grateful to Mrs Hamilton for bringing this new opportunity to students across North Devon. It is always an honour to work with engaged and talented students and it has been wonderful to watch their progress over the last couple of months. This Masterclass series and indeed the students’ new Royal Institution Alumni status will stand them in good stead for future studies and life after education. Kingsley School Bideford also has enrichment opportunities in mathematics for students in Years 6, 7 and 8. If you would like further details contact please contact Mrs Hamilton (chamilton@kingsleyschoolbideford.co.uk).’