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ongratulations to Charla (Y8) and Sophie (Y9) who have completed the 2019 y=mx + c York Mathematical Excellence Club, which they have been attending since the start of the academic year at the University of York.
Head of Maths, Helen Mumby, said Charla and Sophie were put forward by the School, as able and interested mathematicians, for the club which is run under the auspices of the York Independent State School Partnership (ISSP). “The Club meets each half term and are mentored by Maths students studying at the University of York,” said Ms Mumby.
Pupils in the club are put into groups and set challenges to work on. The girls are pictured with some of the work by their groups.
Charla said, “The club was recommended to me by Ms Mumby. Overall, it was fun and really challenging. One of the fun tasks was when we had a poster competition where each group was given a massive piece of paper and had to come up with an advertisement for infinity. We spent 1.5 hours on that. Each session was different and each half term had a different topic. An example of a challenging task was when we did a session on calculus, which I found really confusing. When I got home, I did some of my own research and the next day Ms Mumby explained it to me more thoroughly and after that it made a lot more sense.”
The groups kept in touch regularly online throughout the year. “We were given a gap task every Friday afternoon from 4pm, just to keep our minds working as a group,” said Charla.
For Sophie, it was her second year in y=mx+c, and she found it much easier going the second time around. “I really enjoyed it. I feel like I understood it more and it was easier to follow this year than when I was in Year 8,” she said. “My advice to younger girls looking to join this Club is to just stick with it. it’s quite hard, but Ms Mumby is really good at explaining the concepts. You get to meet others from other schools who enjoy Maths as much as you do. I do feel like my own Maths skills have improved from having been involved in this programme.”