‘We have provided an opportunity for pupils to achieve a genuine thrill from doing maths!’

How often do you hear the phrase “I hated maths at school”, “maths and I just didn’t get along” or “maths was boring”? As assistant head responsible for teaching and learning and maths lead at Newcastle School for Boys, my ongoing aim over the years has been to challenge the stigma associated with maths, by helping our pupils realise that maths can be fun and ensuring they leave our school with fond memories of the subject – rather than the aforementioned quotes remaining the norm.

To help achieve this aim, I take every opportunity available to get our pupils enjoying maths both inside and outside of the classroom - playing games, solving problems and working collaboratively – often done through in-house events or national (even international) competitions. The more we can do, the better - we genuinely will try our hand at anything.

Designing and delivering our own competition for local schools was something I had been eager to do for a while. An event like this would provide further opportunities for both our pupils and children in our local community to enjoy maths, all while building on the fantastic partnerships work we were already doing at Newcastle School for Boys. So, with the support of our school’s partnerships lead, our maths problem-solving competition was born.

Invites were out, and a steady stream of enthusiastic replies were flowing in. I was hopeful and excited, and a little anxious as to how it would all pan out. I desperately didn’t want it to be added to the “at least we tried” pile.

Maths - unlike sport or music – has never naturally lent itself well to an ‘event’. It isn’t a spectator sport that parents are keen to give up their time to watch, the product itself isn’t a treat to the eyes or ears like performing arts or music. Our pupils don’t tend to spend their Saturday afternoon watching their heroes solve maths problems, nor do they turn up to a Sunday morning club with their like-minded friends and take pride and enjoyment from the thrill of seeing who can fluently recite their times tables the quickest, all while their parents cheer them on. They don’t then turn up to the school playground on Monday morning prepared to emulate their favourite mathematician’s style or quirks… you can see what I’m getting at.

Fast forward to October 2024, and the sight of pupils from a visiting school cheering and hugging one another after being announced as the annual Newcastle School for Boys Problem-Solving Competition winners (I will streamline this title) has filled me with joy once again. It is one of those moments, as a teacher, that makes you think “it was all worth it”. This was the third annual competition that we have hosted, each one involving over 80 children from local maintained and independent schools. Every year I hear the same positive feedback from the accompanying staff of how excited their pupils were to take part and how the buzz has filtered down from the previous year’s competitors to this. Hearing of this excitement alone makes the competition worthwhile. Of course, there is a competitive edge, there are winners and losers, but that quickly becomes academic when you witness first-hand the excitement on the pupils’ faces as they wait to open the envelope containing their questions; the buzz, chatter and bustle as they work together to solve the problems; and the immense pride they feel when ‘the penny drops’. We have provided an opportunity for pupils who might not excel on the sports field, or on the stage, to get out of school and achieve a genuine thrill from doing maths!

Our competition has also provided inspiration for others. At a local area network meeting last year, an assistant head of a visiting school told me of his intention to run a trust-wide competition of his own and I am also now working in conjunction with a nearby all-girls’ school to run a year-long Mathletics League in the North East (a slightly catchier title!), providing further opportunities for even more pupils to enjoy maths across our local community (and possibly beyond).