King's had a brilliant six Gold Award winners in the annual UK Intermediate Maths Challenges, with three going forward to the Kangaroo Challenges. The Year 9 and 10 pupils qualify for the Grey Kangaroo, while the Year 11 winners qualify for the Pink Kangaroo. Ultimately the winners might even qualify for the UK Maths Olympic team.
Robb Thomas, 15, who has progressed to take the 25 question Pink Kangaroo, explained why he thought maths was fun. "It's fascinating. The different processes you learn have so many different applications, not just in theory but in practice, such as engineering and computing.”
Dylan Hodgson, 14, also one of King's talented cricketers, added: "I like the fact that there are definite answers. You're right or you're wrong."
While Emilia Ross, 14, added: "You have to be very logical and once you understand the process you can repeat that logic in so many different areas."
King's Maths teacher Gareth Robinson, who organises King's entry in the UK Maths Challenges, said: "The Gold Award is a very high standard and, as the name suggests, the Kangaroo Challenges are a leap even further forwards. These pupils have shown fantastic ability to learn new processes and apply that logic in different applications."
The other Gold Award winners were Emily Allmand-Smith, Matthew Gass and James Waters.
Pictured standing are Emilia Ross and Emily Allmand-Smith. Seated from left to right are Matthew Gass, Robb Thomas and Dylan Hodgson.