HICES Hard Core Mathematics Day

Beau Glass, Sasha Baskin and Jessica Lowy

On Tuesday 16 November we (Jessica Lowe and Ethan Moliver from Year 7 and Sasha Baskin and Beau Glass from Year 8) went to the HICES Hard Core Mathematics day at William Clarke College, Kellyville. There were 26 schools there on the day and we WON! It was a really close win because the school in second place was three points behind us.

The day was really fun. We were all challenged in ways that we hadn’t been before. Our favourite part was probably the Swiss challenge (which we also ended up winning). We all sat in a long line, and a teacher came round with a piece of paper. On the piece of paper was a table of values where we had to work out the relationship between x and y and then use it to fill in the next value of y. We only got about five seconds before they moved on so it was really hard. There were 13 rounds and at least two of us found the rule in each round.

There were also mingling sessions (where we worked with other schools), relays (where both the Year 8 and 7 students had to complete a question before moving on) and hard problem solving questions.

By the end of the day our brains were hurting but it was definitely worth it. We solved some really hard problems and it felt really awesome when we finally found the answers. All in all, it was a wonderful day and it was definitely a highlight of the term so far.

Ethan Moliver 

Year 7