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On 25th and 26th January, students of the British International School Ho Chi Minh City wowed Asia with their mathematical prowess at the Primary FOBISIA Maths Championships in Brunei.
The annual Primary FOBISIA Maths Competition brings together British International Schools from across Asia to compete in a series of mathematical-based challenges. This year the competition was held in Brunei with 29 teams competing and 116 participants in total.
Following 2 days of intense competition, BIS Ho Chi Minh City were announced as overall winners for 2019, winning the trophy for the second year running! The individual results of our students were just an impressive:
Our sincere congratulations go to Subin, Gia Hung, Gaeun and Phuong for successfully retaining the Champion title.
Mr John who accompanied the students on their trip to Brunei, commented, “I have to say it has been an absolute pleasure working with these four amazing young mathematicians. They have proven that hard work, commitment, an enthusiasm to tackle problems and most importantly teamwork achieves rewards.”
We spoke to our mathematicians about their experience in Brunei....
“With excitement and anxiety, the four of us arrived in Bandar Seri Begawan (Brunei)! Anticipation and enthusiastic faces, from the 120 young competitors, greeted the Opening Ceremony of the competition. We were prepared for the next exciting but demanding few days.
The first day started with a trail challenge which was cunning, we were all confident with our results. Next, on the line, there were some team challenges that had popped up with really tough problems! However, using our amazing maths skills and knowledge we managed to tackle these mind quizzing problems and were very happy with our accomplishments. After finishing all of the challenges, the pressure was reduced. The tiring day ended with a boat trip and a tremendous tour around all of the iconic beauty sights of this country including a huge and wide selection of rainforests and native monkeys ending with a self-driven cyclo ride in the wonderful eco-park.
The first day of competition had ended with us all tucked into bed, resting our minds for the next day of individual challenges. We all did an excellent job on the individual challenges: timed countdown, cross number followed by 30 of the toughest problems. Finally, we felt more relaxed. The final task was to construct a contraption with the purpose of protecting an egg from shattering whilst being sent flying over the balcony. Points were awarded for how little we spent, how long our contraption was in flight and the damage to the egg. A budget of SGD$20 was permitted for the different materials needed. Scores were given and judged by one of the teachers at ISB. Ours flew well and was easily in the longest 5, with zero damage to the egg.
We all waited in anticipation and nerves as the finalists were announced...
3rd place: Shrewsbury, Thailand
2nd place: BIS, Jeju Korea
1st Place BIS Vietnam Ho Chi Minh!”
Mr John comments, “Aside from them winning the toughest primary Maths competition, the way they conducted themselves on the trip was outstanding. They showed respect to the other teams, gelled as a team and respected each other's opinions. They are and rightly so, very proud of themselves as am I. Team BIS – Sensational.
We are incredibly proud of our Year 11 class of 2024, for their impressive IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) results. This incredible cohort of 155 students, our largest IGCSE class in the history of the school, have significantly surpassed UK and international averages and were awarded 97% of all grades at A*-C. An incredible 62% of all grades awarded were at A*-A.