Sheffield girls' team comes first out of 30 in the UK Mathematics Team Challenge regional heat
Last week Mr Mozley took a team of four girls, Jorja Plummer, Nawar Hussain, Harriet Bland and Leah Young, to the Regional Heat of the UK Mathematics Team Challenge. They performed excellently and came in first place out of 30 teams!
Mr Mozley described the event:
'The competition was incredibly intense with teams from across Yorkshire and Humberside. The girls were required to work in pairs and as a group to solve a series of demanding problems against the clock. We knew we had done well after the first two rounds but we lost some valuable marks in the third so knew it was all to play for in the final speed round. The team was split into 2 and put at opposite sides of the room. Once one team had correctly answered their question they had to deliver the next question to the other pair. We went prepared! Trainers were worn and they skillfully avoided crashing into other teams as they worked fast to answer as many questions as possible. At the end we really did not think we had done enough to win and were consoling each other with having had a good attempt. We were so surprised when our name was read out as the winning team, those early rounds definitely won it for us.'
He continued: 'We are so looking forward to the Nationals where we can compete against schools from across the country. We are already in training (both mathematical and physical!)'
As a result, they will now go on to the National Final in London on Monday 19 June to compete against the other regional winners.
Nawar was 'very optimistic' about the teams chances of winning in the final, although Jorja was a little more cautious! Harriet and Leah's teacher, Miss Carr was very supportive and offered the team lots of encouragement.
This is only the second year when the school has competed in this competition, so to win the regional round with such little experience of the competition is an excellent achievement. Congratulations go to the team!
Enjoy maths? Find out more about Maths A-level at Sheffield Girls'.