Mathematics competitions The study of Mathematics and Statistics satisfies a wide range of interests and abilities. Participation in mathematics competitions involves mathematical problem- solving in unfamiliar contexts, and rewards students for pattern recognition and confidence in a range of problem-solving skills. The aim of the competitions is to stimulate and encourage students to enjoy the challenge of maths and become creative problem solvers. Students eagerly anticipated the many mathematics' competitions which would see them compete locally, nationally and internationally. Australian Mathematics Competition The Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) is one of the largest mathematics' competitions in the world, with more than 600,000 students competing each year. It is an annual fixture involving students from 38 countries and has been running for 45 years. Our students performed impressively with the following scores: Paddy Newton (110)
Cantamath competition In order to select teams for the Cantamath competition this year, a few Years 9–10 classes participated in a school competition similar in format to the Cantamath competition. The Dining Hall was filled with students eagerly answering mathematics questions and racing to see if their answer was correct. Our Year 13 Calculus students volunteered as markers and eagerly cheered their teams on and encouraged them to keep trying. The students selected to compete at Cantamath were: Year 9 JJ Wada, Ericsson Ye, Yannis Zhang,
to enter the Year 10 version next year and help coach our future Year 9 teams to victory. Covid-19 touched everyone this year and the library was no exception. As pressure on teacher staffing increased because of absences from illness, the role of the library for relief classes became even more important. We turned both of the downstairs teaching spaces into a shared relief space that allowed a single teacher to supervise two senior classes simultaneously. Credit must be given to Darrell Thatcher for managing the scheduling of all these classes, not to mention the number of last-minute relief classes he supervised himself. The need for highly flexible teaching spaces for relief helped inform changes we made to the layout of the downstairs section of the library. In line with the general trend for information to be accessed digitally, our non-fiction section decreased in size as out-of-date and damaged books were removed. This gave us the opportunity to reduce the number of shelves and create a large, open teaching space with flexible seating for classes and group activities. So far, it has hosted Junior Round Square events, visits by public library staff and a book launch, among other activities, and we have lots of exciting ideas for what it will enable in the future. Emma Stilwell HoD Library MATHEMATICS AND STATISTICS Staffing Matters Last year was stable in terms of staffing. Dr Neil de Joux took on the pastoral responsibility as Housemaster at Harper House, and Arthur Wood took on the new role of Diploma Awards Coordinator, while both retaining their teaching roles within the department. This diversity will no doubt have a beneficial effect on the place of the Mathematics and Statistics department across the school.
George Simonsohn, Bill Cross, Charlie de Costobadie, Paddy
Newton, and Marco Howe, with Josh Shannahan and Bill Li as reserves. Year 10 Aaron Kwak, Callum Kingsbury, Ryan Gu, Jack Hastie, Richard Brown, James Hadden, James Floyd, William Gifford, Alex Johnston, Charlie Doutch, David Wayne, and Sam Bennett. Samantha Squire HoD Mathematics and Statistics MODERN LANGUAGES Our 2022 year started with innovation and energy in the department as our te reo Ma¯ori classes ramped up. New Bicultural Coordinator Keri Campbell initiated the first senior language classes in this subject. There has been much energy and enthusiasm echoing around the walls of Open Air 5 and Upper as boys have learnt their reo in a variety of ways, kinaesthetically as well as intellectually, expanding their knowledge and understanding of Te Ao Ma¯ori. Innovation was also the concept “du jour” as we ran the inaugural diploma French and Japanese culture courses. Adopting a wider view on this subject than in our traditional language-based courses, the boys took a more in-depth look at the history and cultural practices of the country of their choice and a
Marco Howe (92) William Butler (89) Ericsson Ye (88) Michael Rankin (83)
Charlie de Costobadie (80) Kangourou sans Frontieres Inspired by the AMC, two
French teachers started a similar competition in France. They called it “Kangaroo” to pay tribute to their Australian friends. It is similar in format to the AMC and has more than six million participants annually. Again, our students performed to a high standard, with three students achieving a Distinction for their results: Year 9 Marco Howe, Ericsson Ye, JJ Wada Year 10 Richard Brown, Ryan Gu, Jack Hastie, Aaron Kwak Year 11 Nicholas Sharr, Seann Zhao
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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