This year a group of seven Year 7 students were chosen from the cohort to participate in a Mathematics Extension program. These students scored exceptional results in their NAPLAN, MYAT and PAT Maths testing which led to them being invited to participate in this initiative.
The students attend one extension class per week and have the option of attending the Maths Extension Club which runs after school on Monday afternoons. The extension students participate in competitions and challenges run over the year by organisations such as the Australian Mathematics Trust and the Mathematics Association of Western Australia.
Currently, students are working on a problem-solving competition called the Mathematics Challenge. They have to solve six problems that each contain four parts. This wasn’t seen as a challenge at all when the students first received their competition books, but after five weeks of grappling with the problems, they have begun to appreciate the depth and complexity of thinking needed to arrive at the answers. The competition closes mid-Term 2 and there are high hopes for students to receive a Distinction Certificate or even a High Distinction Certificate for their efforts.
Other activities planned for the year include the online “Have Sum Fun” competition, the Maths Enrichment competition and the year will round out with the students sampling Network Theory from the Year 12 Applications course.
Mr David Hunter
Head of Mathematics