Stroud School pupils make it to Maths Final at the Natural History Museum

Four Year 7 and 8 pupils from Stroud Preparatory School in Romsey made it through to the Explore Learning Mathematics National Final this February. The Final, which took place at the Natural History Museum, was for the five top teams that qualified in the country.

Schools across the UK were invited to enter a team of four pupils who had the unique opportunity to tackle a never-seen-before mathematical problem. The final was only for the top five teams in the country so Stroud is immensely proud of them! The children thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the first round and although rather nervous were very excited at competing at the National History Museum in the final. To win their place at the final the team scored 32/35 and found all 15 solutions in the Round 1 task. It was noted that their communication and reasoning skills were exceptional during this challenge.

Miss Edmondson, Head of Maths at Stroud, says: “This was an amazing achievement. Not only did they win their heat, they came in the top five in the country – no small feat. We are immensely proud of them and their achievements. Our Junior team which consisted of pupils from Years 5 and 6, also entered the Primary competition and did incredibly well, finding 13/15 possible solutions. Here at Stroud we thoroughly enjoy Maths and strive to create a positive, interesting and fun learning environment which allows pupils of all abilities to thrive.”

The organisers said the team contributed in a very balanced way, they discussed all elements of the task as a team throughout and worked at a good pace enabling them to utilise their time to work on challenge 2, which was more substantial.

For the past 10 years, Explore Learning has been inspiring all children to discover the magic of maths with its free competition. Schools are invited to enter a team of four pupils who will have the unique opportunity to tackle a never-before-seen mathematical problem and compete at the Grand Final at The Natural History Museum!

Stroud School pupils enter a wide variety of Maths challenges and competitions throughout the year, as well as hosting their own competition in the summer for Year 5 pupils from local schools. All competitions aim to stretch all the pupils involved, raise the profile of mathematics and to provide a fun and exciting environment for pupils learning Mathematics.

Stroud is holding its Open Day on Saturday 14 March, 10am – 1pm. For more information, visit www.stroud-kes.org.uk