Mathematics

Maths Week 2022 returned to the school calendar with a bang after a few years in hiatus. It was an opportunity for the whole school community to celebrate the joy of learning through Mathematics. Activities were scheduled over the week that allowed students to explore particular concepts around Mathematics as well as having a bit of fun.

Activity 1: Trivia

Trivia was conducted in Homegroups across the school with a series of 5 mathematical questions being posed each day. This allowed students to apply mathematical concepts to real world situations encountered across the school as well as some riddle style questions.  

In addition to the Homegroup Trivia, there was a challenge set that involved every teacher across the school wearing a particular number (eg. 1034, 56/51 or Gamma etc) and students then had to determine what type of number they were (eg Which staff are perfect squares?). This involved solving 39 different number problems.  

Well done to Miss Lawrene’s Yr 12 Standard 2 class who were able to get the most problems correct. 

Activity 2: Pi Challenge

The gauntlet was laid out to any student from Yr 7 to Yr 12 who wanted to challenge our Extension 2 Mathematics teacher (Mr. Larkin) to see if they could recite more digits of pi than he could. There were some noteworthy challengers, in particular Kaitlyn Daly did well, however, the winner on the day was George Chigwidden who was able to recite  digits of pi.

Disclaimer: Mr Larkin was able to recite 127 digits of pi from memory.  

Activity 3: Silent Cake Auction

Students were invited to construct a ‘maths’ or ‘pi’ cake that would be auctioned off with all proceeds going to St. Vincent De Paul Flood Appeal. We had a total of 14 cakes, which is a massive effort, and some particularly creative students showing off their unique talents. It was also nice to be able to raise some money for some worthy causes.

Here are some examples of some of the cakes that were submitted:

The Mathematics teachers were also keen to promote the occasion by wearing specially designed mathematical apparel (that being white shirts in which they bought and designed themselves). 

A big thank you to the wonderful team of Mathematical teachers who planned the week out for our students and school community to enjoy. 

Mr Kurt McPherson I KLA Leader of Mathematics