School life | X-Maths challenges for mathematical minds

X-Maths took over the Senior School at the end of last term, as maths mascots Miyu and Tan brought forth an exciting array of puzzles, codes and mathematical conundrums to intrigue and delight years 9-13. Over 100 pupils from the five houses took part in rounds as diverse as ‘Escape from Mathcatraz’, ‘Maths Live’ and ‘Weapons of Maths Construction’, with the event culminating in a live maths show on Friday. We were delighted to see cameo appearances from the housemasters, who showed off their skills as human numbers in the final Maths Live round. It was great to see so many pupils enjoying the various maths events and branching out into some of the more competitive and creative mathematical pursuits. With more than half of the Senior School involved in one or more of the rounds, it goes to show the breadth of mathematical interest and ability developing amongst our pupils. Mascot Miyu’s favourite things are inferential statistics, classical mechanics, kittens and first order linear non-homogeneous differential equations. Tan’s favourite things are trigonometry, multivariable calculus, Bernoulli polynomials and the history of laminate flooring.   Karl Hayward-Bradley X-Maths organiser Director of Studies