On Monday 29 June, King William’s College (KWC) welcomed 60 Year 7 pupils from all six of the Isle of Man’s secondary schools for an all-island Maths Challenge, bringing them together for a morning of mathematical teamwork and problem-solving.
Organised by Anouk de Vos, Head of Mathematics at KWC, the event was designed to encourage collaboration between pupils from different schools through a series of mathematical and engineering challenges.
Pupils were divided into 10 mixed-school teams, each made up of one pupil from every secondary school. The morning began with a problem-solving round featuring 30 mathematical questions of varying difficulty, before teams progressed through five increasingly demanding challenge rounds, with each team required to answer every question correctly before moving on.
The event concluded with an engineering challenge, where each team was given 30 sheets of A3 paper and a roll of Sellotape to construct the tallest possible free-standing tower. To qualify, each structure also had to be carried to the measuring area without collapsing.
The winning team comprised Sophie (SNHS), Rishawn (KWC), Jasper (QEII), Rollo (CRHS), Oshyn (RGS) and Douglas (BHS). The runners-up were Cory (SNHS), Zack (KWC), Aidan (QEII), Ben (CRHS), Joseph (RGS) and William (BHS). Prize packs containing mathematical puzzles, games and fridge magnets, kindly sponsored by PwC Isle of Man, were presented to both teams by KWC Principal Damian Henderson.
Following the challenge, all participants enjoyed lunch in the Barrovian Hall and received a goodie bag to take home.
Anouk de Vos commented:
“It was fantastic to see pupils from all six secondary schools working together with such enthusiasm – I wanted the focus to be collaboration rather than competition, and the event achieved exactly that. Mathematics is about far more than finding the correct answer; it develops communication, resilience, creativity and teamwork, and those qualities were evident throughout the morning. It was incredibly rewarding to see students who had never met before quickly become supportive teammates. The enthusiasm, determination and kindness shown by every pupil made the event a real pleasure to organise.”
For more information about studying at KWC, or to enquire about admissions, contact admissions@kwc.im or call 820110.
