Wednesday 8 June 2022
The state’s top mathletes competed in the Newcastle Permanent Schools Teams Maths Challenge this month.
The challenge made a come-back for the second year in a row, with 25 schools participating, an increase from last year’s entry of 22 schools. The virtual challenge was Newcastle Permanent’s solution to the cancellation of their annual Maths Camp due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The virtual challenge allows children to come together for a fun learning experience, whilst staying safe.
The Challenge is exclusive, being invitation only to the top performing year five and six students from the previous year’s Newcastle Permanent Primary School Mathematics Competition. These students are invited to form and enter teams. The schools with the highest quality results in the competition are invited to enter multiple teams.
The challenge consists of two parts: a speed section and problem solving. The students create their own fun team names and compete to be the best in the region. All questions are timed with responses required in as little as 45 seconds or up to five minutes for trickier questions.
This year, the students spanned across the NPBS footprint, with invitations going to schools in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Hunter, Central Coast, Forster, Coffs Harbour, Tamworth, Armidale, and Mudgee.
The feedback has been extremely positive, with students enjoying working together, processing questions and celebrating as a team. Newcastle Permanent is proud to bring this challenge to the youth in our communities.