A team of four maths students from Harrow College recently attended Merchant Taylors' School in Northwood to compete against other schools and colleges in the Middlesex heat of the Senior Team Maths Challenge (STMC) - jointly organised by the UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT) and the Further Maths Support Programme.
The STMC is a UK-wide challenge testing mathematical, communication and teamwork skills, with students competing against other schools and colleges from their region.
The competition consisted of three parts: a group round, a cross number (similar to a crossword) and a "shuttle", where the answer from one question is needed to answer the following question. The team from Harrow College consisted of a sister and brother, Xiao and Hao Chen, as well as Viktoria Noel and Daregoba Darego.
The four students practised hard in advance of the event which, as expected, involved very tough competition. Although the team did not progress into the next round, both the practice sessions and the event itself were valuable activities for the students who tested their wits amongst some of the UK's brightest young mathematicians.
Maths Lecturer and team mentor Kathy Fry from Harrow College said "We have entered this competition every year since 2008 and it is always a worthwhile experience for the team, stretching them mathematically and showing them that Maths can be fun and is not just a subject you learn in order to pass exams."
Well done to the team from Harrow College!