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Region Counts on Rossall Four for National Title
Four Rossall pupils are counting the days to the national finals of the UK Maths Team Challenge, having found the winning formula to sweep aside all other schools in Lancashire and the Fylde to reach the final stage in London in June.
Rossall’s year 8 & 9 maths team had already subtracted several Lancashire teams from the equation, before adding the regional title to their collection. The team, including James Gregory, 14, of Cleveleys; Georgina Barry, 13, of Southport; plus overseas boarders, Daniel Liu, 13 and Hazal Kurtcu, 14; competed in a full day of mathematical gymnastics, which included practical maths tests, team challenges and a maths relay event. En route to the national final, the team beat all the area’s independent schools including Arnold, Kirkham, King Edward & Queen Mary’s, Lancaster Grammar, Clitheroe, QEGS Blackburn and St Mary’s Hall. The event was held at Arnold School in Blackpool.
The quartet will be looking for some capital gains when, as the North West champions, they take on sixty schools from other regions on 23rd June at Kings’ College London, in the hope of being crowned number one.
The prestigious national competition, organised each year by the UK Mathematics Trust, within Kings’ College, attracts entries from around 4,000 schools from the state and independent sectors; therefore to reach the national stage as a regional champion is a considerable achievement for Rossall, which has always been strong in the subject and fares well in competition each year.
First deputy headmaster, Fergus Livingstone, believes that the Rossall quartet will give a good account of themselves at the finals. He commented: “These four children are really representative of the school’s strengths in mathematics, so their performance is not surprising to us and I think they’ll acquit themselves very well when they fly the flag for the region in London.”
If successful at the national finals, the ‘Rossall Four’ team could also gain selection to the UK’s team, which will compete in the International Maths Olympiad against some of the world’s top number crunchers.
Rossall’s strength in mathematics will see them launching this summer a series of new short intensive Mathematics courses for students intending to study Mathematics at A-Level or with the International Baccalaureate Diploma at Sixth Form in September 2008. They are the first of their kind in the country and are designed to bolster and refresh students’ mathematical knowledge and skills as they prepare to go back to their studies in September.
Students can choose to attend a 3 day course, a 4 day course or 10 day course covering numeracy, algebra and statistics - three key areas of the mathematics curriculum. Starting in August 2008, the courses are open to students planning to attend Rossall Sixth Form in September and also to students from other Schools. Limited places are available; therefore Rossall will be taking bookings on a first come, first served basis.
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