Page 10 - The College Echo Spring 2019

8 Mathematics

Success at the UKMT Mathematics Challenges

Intermediate Mathematics Challenge Success 2019
Over 260,000 students from across the country participated in the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge recently.
Ivybridge Community College students achieved 5 Gold, 14 Silver and 9 Bronze positions in this year’s UKMT
Intermediate Maths Challenge.
Six of our students made it through to the next round with Isobel and Thomas, in Year 9, qualifying for the Grey
Kangaroo stage and Year 11 students Joseph, Reece, Daniel and Nadia qualifying for the Pink Kangaroo Stage.

Individual Recognition
Year 11 student, Joseph has been selected for invitation to a National Mathematics Summer School, to be held
at the end of the Summer Term in Leeds, following his excellent performance in this year’s Intermediate
Mathematics Challenge. He received a Gold award in the UKMT Intermediate Challenge with an exceptionally
high score of 98, when only 71marks were needed. The Mathematics Department are extremely
proud of his achievements.

UKMT Team Success
On Thursday, 7 March, Ciaran and Lucy in Year 8, together with Isobel and Alex in Year 9,
represented the College in the regional finals of the UKMT Team Challenge.
Teams are made up from gifted and talented students from schools and colleges across the
county. This year, fourteen teams participated in the competition. Our students performed
well above average and finished in third place, an outstanding achievement. At one stage in
the Challenge there was only one point separating the top three teams.
Congratulations are well deserved.

Taster Day at Plymouth University

Year 10 Mathematicians visited Plymouth University for a Taster Day to participate in
a number of challenging mathematical workshops. These included ‘Guesstimation’,
‘Solving the Josephus Problem’ and ‘Boat Building’, where students were given a
scenario regarding a catamaran ship which had to carry 500g. They had to sketch,

build and estimate the build cost using the materials
provided. The ships were then tested in a flume tank (see
photo).
The students were also enlightened and entertained by
Ben Sparks, a member of the Advanced Mathematics
Support Programme. They were taken on a journey
through humanity’s attempts to wrestle with the deepest
questions behind our day to day use of numbers and their
consequences.

The College Echo - Spring 2019 - www.ivybridge.devon.sch.uk