Singapore International Maths Challenge for 2024 

Hopefully everyone was able to catch up with the article I posted recently on Compass regarding JMSS’s win in the prestigious Singapore International Mathematics Challenge a month or so ago. I was lucky enough to attend the closing ceremony with my wife, as we were returning home from six weeks of long service leave and happened be in in Singapore at that time. It was a fantastic achievement by our three students Douglas Shuttleworth and Janneke Delhey Peters in Year 12, and Joel Tan in Year 11, as well as the many teachers both at and prior to JMSS who have guided and taught them so well. 

Our Deputy Secretary Dr. David Howes penned the following tribute on behalf of the Department of Education and Training. 

          ~ Peter Corkill

Dear colleagues

This has been a term characterised, as always, by continued hard, high-quality work across our schools. There have also been some very significant challenges and important developments.

I want to first highlight a success that has not been widely reported.

Students at one of our government schools, the John Monash Science School (JMSS), won the 2024 Singapore International Mathematical and Computational Challenge.

At a time when we are, rightly, considering how we can best strengthen numeracy outcomes to achieve some of the improvements we have seen in literacy outcomes, this is a reminder that our teachers are helping students scale remarkable heights.

The Singapore International Mathematical and Computational Challenge is one of the most prestigious global school mathematics competitions, and to have a Victorian government school win this event is brilliant. JMSS’s win is a timely reminder of the excellence as well as the equity pursued and achieved by our schools.

Congratulations to the staff and students of JMSS, and also to the teachers at the primary schools our winners attended that clearly gave them such a strong base in mathematics.

          ~ Deputy Secretary Dr. David Howes

This event and the success of the team would not have been possible without Ms Pain and Mr Willoughby, who accompanied the students, as well as Orion Zymaris, a JMSS alumni and Monash PhD student who helped train the team in the months leading up to the challenge.

          ~ Rowen May

Here are a few pictures of the event: