Ripon Cathedral Choir School

Do you remember maths lessons on a warm sunny Friday afternoon when all you could think about was the weekend and the exciting things you could do? That certainly was not the case, last Friday, even with the prospect of nearly two hours of maths.

On Friday 30 teams of 4 pupils represented their primary schools from around Ripon, Bedale, Northallerton, Richmond and Pateley Bridge, in the fourth annual Ripon Cathedral Choir School Maths Challenge. The mainly Year 6 pupils doubled the number of pupils in school for the afternoon. As the teams arrived there was an air of nervous anticipation from staff and pupils, for many schools this was their first time taking part. With such a fantastic number of entries the schools were split into 2, one group taking part in the relay and the other the tabletop challenges. For the relay teams each had a runner who collected the question rushed back to their team, the team answered the question and the runner rushed back with the answer. If the answer was correct they were given another question if not they were given one more chance. Once thirty questions were answered the relay was stopped. Teams quickly understood the need to be quick but accurate when answering the problems. Brompton, Bishop Thornton, Holy Trinity, Pannal, Rossett Acre and Kirby Hill all scored maximum points on the relay. The tabletop Challenges needed less haste but a need to think outside the box, to read the questions carefully and come up with the answers. This was problem and riddle solving at its best for eleven-year-old pupils. For example how many apples can a paper bag hold? – solution: only one because then the bag isn’t empty. For some teams they really found this a challenge but Bedale, Great Smeaton and the Choir School scored the highest points. After a drink and a homemade biscuit courtesy of the School Association the groups swapped over. At the end of ninety minutes of fun maths the children waited anxiously for the results. When both scores had been added together Mrs Vicky Shaw, the wife of the sponsor, presented Prizes from Brigantia Computers. The Shield and gold medals went to Bedale Primary School, the silver to Brompton Primary, and the bronze to Great Smeaton Primary. A full list of results can be found on the School website at www.cathedralchoirschool.co.uk It was a great afternoon of fun, competition, and challenge, normally reserved for the games field. Spectators commented that they had never had as much fun with their school maths. All the children went home with mugs to commemorate a brilliant afternoon.

* Independent Schools