Mathematics

Maths Comedian/Performer - Simon Pampena

During the first week of August, Year 9's were treated to a performance by Mathematician and stand-up comedian, Simon Pampena.  His pioneering blend of comedy and maths made him famous, amassing over 17 million views on the ground breaking YouTube channel Numberphile and eight years in Los Angeles with the Discovery Channel’s 'Outrageous Acts of Science'.  Simon was appointed the Numeracy Ambassador of Australia by the Prime Minister, and is currently working with Scienceworks and the Melbourne Museum developing 'maths for the masses'.

Student Reflections

"Simon Pampena came to St Bede’s College, on Monday 1 August to do a performance for us (Year 9). He used Maths and comedy to make us laugh throughout the show with his funny jokes and his enthusiasm for maths. He engaged the audience and got us involved in his performance by asking for volunteers and talking to the audience. While making us laugh he also taught us about Maths and combined it together to make a great performance."

Daniel Henry

"I loved the part where Stuart Hunt was a 'pi-man'. It was extremely entertaining and comedic because he looked so silly. The confidence of Simon was extremely impressive, he had some fantastic dance moves and absurd levels of confidence. He really owned his performance and gave us a good show. The best part of the show was when Simon was entertaining us talking about the Olympics and the Maths Olympics competition really intrigued us and he managed to implicate a perfect amount of humorous jokes without beining offensive."

James, Archer and Thomas

"In Period 2, the year level was invited to the auditorium to experience a ‘maths incursion’. Obviously initial impressions from everyone were 'this is going to be the most boring period of my life'. Simon came in and definitely considering we were an audience of 14 and 15 year old boys, he spoke with confidence and managed to capture our engagement with amusing jokes about different aspects of maths. The peak of the event would have to have been when Stuart Hunt (Stewie), was invited backstage and was dressed in a Pi-Man mascot costume. Over the hour, there were a lot of laughs, and overall it was a really enjoyable event."

Alex Calvi

"Simon Pampena was a enthusiastic and active performer who always kept the audience involved and intrigued by including voluntary students in the performance. This was shown when he introduced Pi-Man also known as Stuart Hunt and star student Murphy Behnk. Simon explained to the audience how relevant and significant mathematics is in our everyday lives. He also showed his love for entertainment as he danced and sung on the stage. We would love to have him back anytime."

Hayden Smith

Australian Mathematics Competition 

Our students competed in the Australian Mathematics Competition and, as far as School-based maths competitions go, they don’t get much bigger than this. The competition is the largest in the Southern hemisphere, with more than 15 million entries since 1978 and students in more than 30 countries attempting the same problems each year. Students have 75 minutes to solve complex problems. The problems get more challenging as the competition progresses, so students of all abilities will be challenged and inspired.

Student Reflections

"St Bede's is a school overflowing with young, bright, emerging minds, the Australian Math Competition (AMC) was a great way to allow accelerated students from years 7-10 to express themselves in a competitive environment. On the 3rd of August, students sat the AMC, the test was definitely challenging and pushed even the most talented of minds, the problem-solving based questions really encouraged those to use everything they have learned so far at St Bede's. I found, in particular, that the AMC was such a great experienced in allowing a competitive environment as well as pushing us mentally, with the past years involved around Covid restrictions, it was great to be able to do something like this. I would recommend all students giving it a thought to definitely compete, as it isn’t an official mark, but is a great way to self-evaluate where you are amongst the top students in Australia, I myself cannot wait to compete next year."

Hugo Risvanis (10M)

"I competed in the Australian Maths Competition on Wednesday the 3rd of August. The AMC is an engaging 30-problem competition that demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in students’ everyday lives. The competition is open to all years from 3-12. The teachers ran the competition very well, being clear with instructions on how to set it up and how to complete it. The competition was fully online and resources such as practice questions were provided before the competition. I think the problems are really complex and good to solve because you feel really good after you do it that's something other problems might give off. Unlike tests at school they just focus on one thing, the AMC focused on many different areas, which challenged different areas of our brains."

Rob Tuohey (10M)

The Bebras Australia Computational Thinking Challenge

At different stages throughout the year St Bede's College students have participated the Bebras Challenge. Our students did very well, and those that received a High Distinction or Distinction are listed below.

The Bebras Challenge started in Australia in 2014 through the CSIRO Education and Outreach program 'Digital Careers' and has a long and world-wide history.  Started in Lithuania in 2004 by Professor Valentina Dagiene (University of Vilnius), Bebras started with 3,470 students from 146 schools. The Bebras Challenge has grown so much that there are now almost 60 countries with over 1.6 million students participating last year alone.

'Bebras' is the Lithuanian word for 'beaver' and was chosen because beavers endeavour for perfection in their every day activities, and are known to be hard working and intelligent.

Andrew Davis

Learning Leader

Mathematics Year 7-9