Last Tuesday, we travelled to Ibstock Place School to take part in their annual Maths competition.

Prior to this, in lessons, we had prepared ourselves by doing numerous maths exercises with Mr Leadbetter, and practised various styles of challenges such as relay races and group challenges. We arrived at the school, had some nice biscuits and refreshments, and then got straight into round one. This was a relay round, and we got slightly stuck. However, for the next group round, we regrouped, discussed strategy, and decided we would write out our work neatly as there were marks awarded for methods as well as the final answers.

The next relay round was brilliant – we finished in under four minutes and were able to get the bonus marks, the only team that managed it! Furthermore, the Head of Maths at Ibstock Place came over and commented on how impressed he was as he didn’t think anyone would be able to answer than question!

The final round was a buzzer round, and two of us had to take turns and stand up with pupils from the other schools and answer a few speed questions, which was scary. However, we managed to get two out of the four questions right, despite the feeling of intense pressure. Finally, having beat Wimbledon High School by one point, we were announced as the winners and brought back a trophy to Emanuel.

Jeanne (Year 10)