Four formidable Year 8 Mathematicians from the Prep School joined forces with their Year 9 counterparts from the Senior School recently to face some of the best mathematicians in East Anglia at the UK Maths Trust Regional Maths Finals held at the Headmaster Porter Theatre at the College. Over 40 teams were participating from all over the region in the two-day event. Jamie Goodhead and Annabel Sheppard paired up with Ben Sunderland and Brodie Blore to form our A team whilst Matt Addison and Freya Faulkner joined forces with Zach Croft –Sharland and Dan Butler to form our B team.
The day was split into four rounds. The Group Challenge enabled all the team to tackle ten pages of brain-straining maths problems where cooperation and communication were key. The cross number puzzle required each team to split into pairs and navigate through numerical ‘Across’ and ‘Down’ clues. The teams found that effective teamwork as well as mathematical knowledge was essential to succeed.
After a fortifying lunch in the beautiful College Dining Hall, the competition resumed with the extremely challenging Shuttle round where the questions were dependent on previous answers – one false move and fifteen points were at stake! Finally it was time for the Relay round: this was the highlight of the afternoon as it involved running between pairs to collect and deliver questions – the hall was buzzing with physical and mental activity!
Framlingham College A team managed to secure a creditable 9th place in a close competition that saw Ipswich, Debenham and Coppleston High Schools all make it through to the National Finals in June. All pupils received a participation certificate and UK Maths Trust pencil case. Mrs Russell was proud of all the Framlingham Prep pupils for their infectious enthusiasm and unstinting dedication to the team competition.
