Hans Woyda was a highly respected mathematician with a reputation for solving complex problems on the back of a postage stamp. He taught at Kingston Grammar and having died at a young age, this London based competition was founded in his honour.
Each of the 64 schools that enter each year field their best students in years 7 – 9, 10 – 11, the Lower sixth and Upper sixth. To begin with the format is round robin in pools of four. The winner of each group goes through to the knock out stage of the main competition, whilst the runner up will compete in the plate knock out competition.
A typical match consists of seven rounds each testing a particular aspect of mathematics. They include sections on Geometry, Algebra, Probability, Mental Arithmetic, Calculators and a Team Question. Some schools take it very seriously and regularly ‘play’ to crowds of two hundred or more!
Last Tuesday we played Forrest School in the first group match of this year’s Hans Woyda season. For the first time in our history, we hosted the tie virtually, which thankfully went smoothly. Farhan, making his debut, became the first Year 8 student to represent Emanuel, and I am delighted to report that although he missed a couple of chances, he performed remarkably well and has a very bright future ahead of him. Daniel , also making his first appearance, put in a strong performance, as did seasoned campaigners Lucy and Atitya , both of whom correctly answered questions at a crucial time which effectively sealed the victory.
My thanks goes to the four students mentioned above, and also to Ms Cojbasic and Mr Bishop for their support.
Mr Leadbetter (Teacher of Maths)