Have Sum Fun Competition

The Have Sum Fun Competition is a mathematics initiative that uses a quiz-night format. Teams of six students race against the clock to solve four intense rounds of eight challenging problems. Teams are made up of 3 students from each year group.

Over 50 schools across the State take part in this competition and we were up against a large number of exceptionally strong schools.  Although we were not placed in the top 3, all of our teams did remarkably well and are to be commended for their efforts. Giving up a Friday night is no small ask of these students and they are to be commended for their willingness to participate.

Year 11 and 12 team – Tatum Botha (Yr 12), Panashe Mtabeni (Yr 12), Emma Spence-Medcraft (Yr 12), Daney Bezuidenhout (Year 11), Caitlin Matthews-Markey (Year 11) and Zac Mawson (Yr 11)

Year 9 and 10 team – Catriona Hanssen (Yr 10), Josephine Odude (Yr 10), Phillip Potgieter (Yr 10), Jake Mawson (Yr 9), Joshua Morris (Yr 9) and Dylan Punnen (Yr 9)

The Year 7 and 8 team – Gabrielle Hawkes (Yr 8), Daniel Lummis (Yr 8), Leo McGill (Yr 8), Jacob Millward (Yr 7), Natalia Rodrigues (Yr 7) and Aiden Thangiah (Yr 7)

The teams had practise sessions leading up to the events, at which past Have Sum Fun questions were discussed. The nights were enjoyed by both teams and their performances were creditable.

We celebrated the teams’ efforts with Krispy Kreme doughnuts on the last day of term. A big thanks to everyone involved and we look forward to next year’s events.

NAPLAN

As Naplan is fast approaching, we would like to encourage all Year 7 and 9 students to make use of the practice tests that are available to them on their SEQTA splash page. A reminder to all year 9 students that attaining Band 8 or higher in NAPLAN will exempt them from having to sit the OLNA in Year 10.

Calculators

To ensure we can return misplaced calculators to their rightful owners, the Maths department offer a free engraving service. I recommend that students take advantage of this offer and they are welcome to bring their calculator to the Maths office where it will be engraved immediately.

Maths Club

Maths Club runs every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon from 3.30 to 4.30pm in M2. For our Duty of Care, it is important that students remain in Maths Club for its duration, unless they have a note to say that they need to leave early. A record of attendance is kept for your information and our duty of care. It is suggested that students who have missed work due to absence or who require extra assistance attend Maths Club. It has been shown that students who attend on a regular basis experience an improvement in their results.

Mathspace

All students in Year 10 to year 12 have a year’s subscription to the Mathspace program which was paid for as part of the Mathematics subject levy. This is a fantastic program which provides enjoyable opportunities for students to use to consolidate work that has been done in class. The program may sometimes be used in class and can also be accessed at home and in Maths Club.

If your child says they have no homework, please encourage them to work on Mathspace and give them some productive computer time. In most cases, the password that the students had last year will be carried over to this year. Students who are new to the College can obtain a password by asking their class teacher.

Maths Pathways

Our year 7 to 9 students are progressing well in the Maths pathways program. All parents now have access to the Parent Portal on their child’s Maths Pathway home page. Just a reminder that all results and data on your child’s progress can be viewed via this Parent Portal and not on SEQTA. Our primary focus is on how much each student is 'growing' in their maths and how much new maths they are learning on a daily basis. I would encourage you to contact your child’s teacher if you are still unsure how to access the parent portal for this program.

Leigh-Anne Hopkins

Head of Mathematics