Over the course of the year, students on the Primary Campus have been involved in a number of Mathematics contests that have now all been completed.

Firstly, the annual Maths Olympiad and Maths Games have concluded with some pleasing results. Our top five-point scorers this year were Harry Wren, Jack Brown, Aryanna Davie, Magnolia Mills and Emily Robinson in the Olympiads whilst Isaak Brown, Ella Wren, Lachlan Doyle, Vanilia Eunson and Sasha Kendall were recognised for their improved attitude, effort and performance in the Maths Games.

As some may be aware the Queensland Association of Mathematics Teachers runs an annual problem-solving event that moves through a number of knock out stages before reaching the final with the top 16 teams in the state battling it out mathematically. This year we had two teams qualify to the rural stage of the competition with Harry Wren, Tom Telfer and Jack Brown finishing in first place in this to qualify for the finals. This was a great effort form the boys and they performed well in the State finals to finish in eighth place overall. Needless to say, there were some interesting and challenging questions encountered along the way.

Our final event for the year was the annual Granite Belt Maths Team Challenge in which we entered three teams. All teams performed well in this contest and the students in Years Five and Six have worked hard during lunch breaks and in Problem Solving groups to develop their skills in preparation for this event. The St Joseph’s tradition of performing well at this event continued in 2020 with our teams finishing in first and second place and our third team of only Year five students finishing not too far behind third place.

Congratulations to all students who took part in these events and a special thank you to all organisers who went above and beyond in providing the opportunities for the students in this unusual year in difficult circumstances.

David Fleming