Our Y7 and Y8 boys were conspicuously absent from the playground last week – not because of the cold, wet weather but because they had been going mad over maths! So mad for maths that they came fourth in the country (so very nearly third) in the small schools’ category.
The week marked the first official Maths Week in England and, to celebrate all things mathematical, schools were invited to take part in the Manga High Maths Challenge. A challenge that our boys in Y7 and Y8 accepted with their usual enthusiasm. The individual challenges, which got progressively harder – going from easy to medium to hard to extreme, covered everything from algebra to times tables to shapes.
It was wonderful to see upwards of 60 boys at break and lunchtime coming in to grab an iPad and compete not only for the top spot in the school but also collectively to place Bedford Prep in the top schools in the country. But the boys did not stop there – they also completed challenges at home to increase their scores. Some even asked if they can come into school early and stay late on the final Saturday to earn as many points as possible in the time remaining.
We are delighted to say that all their hard work paid off, as they came fourth overall with 6,102 points, accruing a remarkable 294 hours of challenge time. In the final day alone they added over 1,000 points to the school’s score!
Special congratulations to the following boys, who recorded the highest number of medal points.
| Position | Name | |
| 1 | Joseph Lee | |
| 2 | Eeshan Agrawal | |
| 3 | Danny Chapman | |
| 4 | Sammy Inman | |
| 5 | Isaac Adeyemi-Abere | |
| 6 | Eric Breslin | |
| 7 | Joe Basquille | |
| 8 | William Brunsden-Parsons |
We have to admire all the boys’ determination and passion and love the buzz that the challenge created around Maths. Go Bedford Prep!
