Go Merrin! Our Year 8 team smoked the opposing teams in the ever exciting world of competitive Mathematics!! First place (for the first time ever) in Year 8 went to the team of Ben Y., Ai Y., Noel K. and Ethan N. Our Year 7 team of Siobhan F., Jehthro V., Oliver T and Woo Jin S.  finished in an excellent 13th place. There were more than 100 teams in each competition.

For the first time ever a team finished this competition in 11 minutes. The Year 8 team only sent up 2 incorrect answers. This meant that they were able to sit back and soak up the atmosphere for the remaining time. To put this in perspective - only 11 teams completed the competition in the whole 30 minutes with all questions correct.

 This is the first time Merrin School has won the Yr 8 trophy. However, we have won the Yr 7 trophy twice in the last few years. This makes us one of the most successful schools in Christchurch to compete in this prestigious competition. 

Once again, luck was not with us for our Yr 7 team.  A marking error meant that we fell behind the leaders early in the competition and despite slowly recovering ground we did not score as highly as we would have done. 13th place is a very commendable effort and they are a team to watch for next year.

Both teams and a wider group of students practiced for an hour after school during Term 2 and all of this term. This commitment and dedication shows their passion for learning and has a direct impact on their ability to solve problems and the level of understanding each student displays. Having to justify, debate and engage in mathematical conversations are powerful stimulants to grow students confidence and ability in Mathematics.

Once again, I am proud to have been a part of working with our talented akonga and helping to create the right conditions for them to achieve excellence.  They deserve all of the success they have achieved.