Nord Anglia Maths Challenge

Nord Anglia Maths Challenge The Nord Anglia Maths Challenge was held from Monday 24 to Wednesday 26 January for students in Years 5 to 8. Our family of schools in the China region were invited to take part and we had some brilliant entries from colleagues across the Nord Anglia community. The central theme was Mathematics in China and the Lunar New Year Calendar!

The Nord Anglia Maths Challenge was held from Monday 24 to Wednesday 26 January for students in Years 5 to 8. Our family of schools in the China region were invited to take part and we had some brilliant entries from colleagues across the Nord Anglia community. The central theme was Mathematics in China and the Lunar New Year Calendar!

A group of BISS Puxi students launched the event with a video introduction; calling for students to try the activities, solve a range of problems and even create their own short video on Mathematics in China.

Day one was all about tangrams. The children used different sized pieces to create a variety of Chinese Zodiac animals. Some classes enjoyed the tangram activities so much that they chose to spend an extra day working on them!

‘The tangram activity was really exciting. We had to create the Chinese Zodiac Animals to start with, then we were allowed to be creative with the pieces and create all sorts of different designs.’ – Ethan, Year 5

Day two was the Zodiac Animals Property Puzzle. Children had to use the clues given, to identify and sort the animals into the correct order. The children were certainly required to use their problem-solving skills!

‘The Zodiac Challenge was really tricky at first, but once we started spotting patterns and listing what we already knew, we found a way to solve it! We were so happy when we did!’- Angel, Year 6

On day three, the children completed the ‘Animal Challenge’ question paper.

All these activities gave the children the opportunity to work independently, or collaboratively in groups, to solve Chinese New Year related problems, using a range of different strategies, such as: trial and improvement, working systematically, reasoning, and visualising.

“I was so impressed to see the children working together to solve problems – it’s one of our key aims at the school. We understand that when children (and adults) work as a team, they can achieve a great deal. This competition has certainly inspired the pupils to do just this.” James Callan, Primary Maths Leader at The British International School, Shanghai.

Schools were also tasked with creating a short three-minute video based on ‘Maths in China’. We received some excellent entries, which included:

• Students from The British School of Nanjing telling a Chinese tale using tangrams.
• Pupils from Léman International School, Chengdu, presenting on famous Chinese mathematicians.
• Children from Nord Anglia International School, Hong Kong, retelling some of the key dates and events in the history of Maths in China.

Thank you to all the schools who took part in the challenge and those who sent some lovely photographs and videos which you can see throughout this article. We hope that there will be many more events like this coming up.