Senior Team Maths Challenge

This year’s Senior Team Maths Challenge took place at the opulent surroundings of Merchant Taylors on Monday 6th November. There were 20 team from the North West London area. The HEHS team consisted of:

William Kuldarian (Year 13)

Timothy Fenn (Year 13)

Zhe Yuan (Year 12)

Narcisa Vacarita (Year 12)

The competition is challenging to suit the ability of the candidates. There are three intense rounds with a short break between the 2nd and 3rd rounds.

• The Group Round:- Ten questions which the teams have 40 minutes to solve. Teams can decide upon their own strategy for solving these: work in pairs; as a group; or work individually.
• The Crossnumber Round:- Teams divide into two pairs to solve a mathematical crossword puzzle in approximately 40 minutes. One pair is given the across clues, the other pair the down clues. Each pair of students solve their clues and write their answer on the master grid. The teacher immediately checks each digit of the answer, correcting if necessary. The correct answer is then shown to both pairs so that they are working with up-to-date information. They are not allowed to communicate directly with the other pair but they may, through the teacher, ask the other pair to try to work on a particular answer that they need. They cannot share any other information with the other pair or ask any questions about definitions etc.
• The Shuttle Round:- Teams divide into two pairs to solve a four mathematical problems in 8 minutes. The solution to the first problem is required to solve the second problems and so on.

The team from HEHS enjoyed the experience, detailing strategies and how to improve performance for the next time.