Viewing archives for Maths

This week saw QE mark National Writing Day as girls and boys from five Barnet primary schools got to grips with literacy and numeracy challenges during an exciting morning at Queen’s Road.

The Year 5 children worked in teams in competitive taster sessions designed by QE teachers, with support and encouragement along the way from Year 8 boys.

The morning helped give the young visitors the tools they need to wax creative in their writing through a vocabulary challenge and a poetry exercise.

Headmaster Neil Enright, who presented certificates to the winning teams, said: “It was great to see the enthusiasm of all our young visitors, and I warmly congratulate the winners. My thanks go to the visiting primary school teachers and teaching assistants for helping to make the day a resounding success, not forgetting, of course, the contribution of QE teachers and of our Year 8 helpers.

“This was part of our long-running outreach programme with local partner primary schools. We are always delighted to welcome their children here and thus strengthen our community connections. The programme is very much in line with our historic identity as a Barnet school – which goes right back to our 1573 royal charter. Through involving our own Year 8, we also ensure it’s aligned with one of the priorities of our new Boundless School plan, namely to nurture our pupils in becoming ‘community-orientated’.”

The outreach programme is coordinated by Sarah Westcott, Assistant Head (Inclusion and Wellbeing). This year, visiting youngsters have already taken part in Art and forensic science sessions. Still to be run are taster sessions in History, Geography and Economics.

On this occasion, the Year 5 pupils from Foulds, Whitings Hill, St Catherine’s RC, Underhill and Northside primary schools worked in teams to tackle four rounds of English and Mathematics activities:

• Round 1 was a word definitions challenge, designed to broaden vocabulary, recognising that this is one of the building blocks of effective writing. It was led by English teacher Panayiota Menelaou. Winners: Foulds team 1;
• Round 2 involved number puzzles and was delivered by Maths teacher Nadeem Kydd. Winners: Whitings Hill team 1;
• Round 3 focused on poetry-writing and helped the children express themselves in this specific genre. Head of English Robert Hyland presided. Winners: St Catherine’s team 1;
• Round 4 was entitled Shuttling Maths and was led by Maths teacher Phillip Brady. Winners: Foulds team 2.

The overall winners of the day were team 2 from Foulds School.

The day was organised by the English and Mathematics Heads of Department.

It was, said Mr Hyland, a pleasure to host the young visitors: “Holding taster sessions like these is a great way for QE teachers to share the love of their subject with pupils in the local community.”

His Maths counterpart, Jessica Steer, said: “We were delighted to welcome such resilient, enthusiastic children to our School. The challenges they faced were demanding, but they approached each one with determination, teamwork, and positivity. Their schools should be incredibly proud of the way they supported one another, worked collaboratively, and represented their communities throughout the event.”

Mrs Menelaou added: “These taster sessions are a fun opportunity for Year 5 pupils to experience Maths and English in a secondary school setting, helping them become familiar with the next step in their educational journey while interacting with our Year 8 students.”

Alongside developing their problem-solving skills, pupils enjoyed making new friendships and experiencing life in a secondary school environment. Their day included a well-earned break in the playground.

The Year 8 helpers were: Aditya Bhandari, Aarush Mehta, Vidyut Naryan, Aman Morjaria, Kushal Pasupuleti, Yajat Vyas, Eashaan Saha, Maanush Shah, Kiyansh Gupta, Patheen Patel and Duc Ta.

• National Writing Day is an annual celebration of writing run by an independent charity, the National Literacy Trust.

Year 10’s Aaryan Prabhaker has won the 2026 World Math Hackathon – a global competition where contestants focus on using mathematics to solve some of the planet’s most pressing issues.

QE is announcing his success today on National Numeracy Day 2026.*

Aaryan won the gold medal and first prize, beating a young Canadian mathematician into second place, reversing the order last year, when he was runner-up to Canadian pupil Havish Bhavasar.

He secured first place with his essay on the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on poverty reduction. Pupils from Canada took both second and third places this year.

Head of Mathematics Jessica Steer said: “Our congratulations go to Aaryan, who showed perseverance, creativity, and, of course, great mathematical ability to produce an outstanding essay.”

Open to pupils aged 11-17 worldwide, the World Math Hackathon is run by Explorer Hop, a Toronto-based educational organisation that focuses on financial literacy, money management, and entrepreneurship.

The competition tackles a different SDG every year and is aligned with the United Nations Sustainability Plan.

Previous examples of the challenges set include: the problem of vaccine deliveries in underprivileged countries; creating sustainable living communities by designing a walkable city, and finding solutions for sustainability and inequality.

Aaryan rose to the challenge by producing an essay on how education and training could help reduce poverty in Ethiopia – the case study provided by the competition organisers.

He applied mathematical modelling to evaluate three spending options to provide basic education, but also suggested other, low-cost measures, including the use of social media and community story-telling sessions.

His essay concluded with these words: “A holistic and well-rounded approach can help solve the crisis that Ethiopia faces today and help provide education to millions of children. Education is like the water, sun and soil, all combined together that can help nurture and grow these children out of poverty.”

* National Numeracy Day is a UK campaign dedicated to improving everyday maths. Each May, individuals, schools and organisations across the country come together to help children and adults feel more confident with numbers at work, at home and at school. This year’s theme is Count on Your Community.

• You can read Aaryan’s essay here.

Sixth-former Hisham Khan was named in the top 25% of the 100 élite young mathematicians competing in the final round of the British Mathematical Olympiad – considered the UK’s hardest national Maths competition.

Hisham and fellow Year 13 pupil Joshua Wilkinson reached the BMO’s second round after both won bronze medals in round 1, where they were ranked among the top 100 of the 1,300 who took part.

Assistant Head of Mathematics Kirtan Shah said: “Due to the sheer volume of students who enter, it is not easy to be a top scorer in round 1 and progress to the final round. But Hisham and Joshua did even better than that, mustering clear focus, endurance and resilience in round 2.

“Overall, theirs was a fantastic performance that will serve as an inspiration to others.”

The BMO is a UK-wide competition for Year 10 to 13 run by the UK Maths Trust (UKMT). Even to enter, students have to rank in the top 1,000 of the separate UK Senior Mathematical Challenge (UKSMC), or be entered by their Maths teacher.

The first round of the BMO lasts three-and-a-half hours and has six questions.

Both Hisham and Joshua qualified for it by coming in the UKSMC top 1,000.

Like round 1, round 2 lasts three-and-a-half hours, but it has four, not six, questions.

Hisham is no stranger to success in the BMO: in the previous academic year, he secured a silver medal in round 1, while 2025 leaver Saim Khan won bronze, missing out on a silver by just one mark.

In addition to their bronze medals, Hisham and Joshua, both from Year 13, won a book, Introduction to Number Theory, by C J Bradley, who was a lecturer at Oxford.

Hisham also won a certificate of distinction for coming in the top 25% in round 2.

Head of Year 13 Akhil Gohil presented Hisham and Joshua with their medals and books in Year 13 assembly.

QE has achieved its highest-ever position in the national final of the Senior Team Maths Challenge.

The Sixth Form team came fourth out of 50 élite teams at the national final in Manchester, only narrowly missing out on the top three places. It is the first time QE has achieved a top-ten finish in the challenge.

Their achievement follows an earlier triumph at the regional final in Cambridge, where the four QE boys had a perfect score and took joint first place.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “This was a tremendous achievement in this long-running and highly regarded UK Maths Trust competition, reflecting not only our team’s talent,  resilience and collaborative abilities, but also the great strength of Mathematics generally at QE. My congratulations go to the team and to their teachers.”

The team comprised the 2026 School Captain, Tunishq Mitra, and his fellow Year 12 pupil, Mohith Sigirisetti, together with Year 13’s Hisham Khan and William Joanes.

In the national final, they achieved 100 per cent correct answers in the group round, crossnumber round, and shuttle round. In the round which required teams to create a poster on a given topic, the QE contingent lost out by a very small margin to the joint first-place schools, Winchester College and Tonbridge School, which had also had perfect scores in the main three rounds.

Mathematics teacher Sammi Zhu said: “For the actual maths, therefore, our team scored 100 per cent and were joint-first! That is an extraordinary mathematical accomplishment which reflects both their depth of understanding and excellent teamwork.

“I would like to add my congratulations to these four students for their hard work and outstanding achievement.”

At the regional final held at The Leys School, Cambridge, in November, the QE team competed in a field of 20 teams.  In a highly competitive battle for first place, QE’s perfect score left it in a three-way tie with longstanding challenge rivals Haberdashers’ Boys’ School and The Perse School.

• Click on the thumbnails to view the images.

Having stormed through their regional round earlier this year, four QE pupils went on to take overall second place in the national final of the prestigious UK Maths Trust’s Team Maths Challenge.

The four, who were competing against 71 other teams, took second place overall in the final, held at the Royal Horticultural Halls in central London.

They performed strongly throughout the five rounds and were even shortlisted for a special, separate prize awarded for the poster round.

Head of Mathematics Jessica Steer said: “We are thrilled and immensely proud at the achievement of our four talented mathematicians who represented the School with such distinction on the national stage.

“Their calm and focused approach under pressure paid off brilliantly, securing our School second place in the country — an incredible achievement that reflects their hard work and passion for Mathematics.”

Representing QE were: Year 8’s Arya Hombal and Noble Laturia, along with Liam Chen and Advik Gupta, both of Year 9. They are pictured, top, with UK Maths Trust Vice Chair Steve Mulligan.

The national final followed 47 Team Maths Challenge events throughout the UK earlier this year.

It was the first post-pandemic national final: the last was held in 2019. Teams travelled from as far as the Scottish Highlands, Channel Islands and Northern Ireland. There were also seven guest teams from China.

The event consisted of five demanding rounds: the Group Circus, Shuttle, Crossnumber, Relay, and Poster rounds. The rounds are designed to test mathematical thinking, teamwork and resilience.

Overall first place went to The Perse School, Cambridge, while behind QE in third place were another independent school, Haberdashers’ Boys’.

Although QE has achieved success in the main Team Maths Challenge competition before, according to Head of Academic Administration, Wendy Fung, who was involved with Mathematics competitions for many years, the shortlisting for the poster competition is a QE first.

A Sixth Form team came second in London and third across the whole country in the long-running Náboj Math competition.

The Year 12 boys’ performance in the London heat of the competition, which was hosted by Dulwich College, placed them among the leading élite of the 70 teams competing nationally.

Head of Mathematics Jessica Steer said: “This was an impressive performance by our students, who entered the competition on their own initiative.”

The London heat was one of four run in the UK this year: the others were in Oxfordshire, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

Team member Vinujan Sivakumar said: “We had an incredible experience at Dulwich College. In the London heat, we secured second place out of 20 highly competitive teams, missing the top spot by just two points to King’s College London Mathematics School.”

The same school went on to be named overall UK winners. QE finished in third place in the national rankings, its 35 points placing it just ahead of Dulwich College and Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School, Marlow, on 34 points apiece.

In the international rankings, QE came 28^th out of around 800 teams.

Vinujan’s teammates were Ram Chockalingam, Sasen Kankanamge Don, William Joanes and Joshua Wilkinson.

The competition lasted for 120 minutes, during which the five-person teams tried to solve as many problems as possible. At the beginning, each team received six problems. As soon as it correctly solved a problem, it was given another one.

The competition website states: “Problems in Náboj differ considerably from the routine school exercises which usually require only direct application of a given method: the Náboj problems require certain amount of inventiveness and ingenuity. Success in the competition does not depend on the individual abilities of the team members only but also on their efficient cooperation.

“Apart from enhancing imagination and logical reasoning our goal is to attract people to the endless beauty hidden in mathematics.”

A team from Poland were the international winners. This year, the competition was also run in Austria, Czechia, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Iran, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland and Uzbekistan.