Maths Champions – Hans Woyda Round 1 Report

On 15 October a group of four Caterham mathematicians (Eva, Lucy, Hayes and Thomas) took part in the first Hans Woyda fixture of the year at Wilsons School. Hans Woyda is a challenging mathematics competition contested by 64 schools around London, where pupils from years 9, 11, 12 and 13 answer questions under intense time pressure against their counterparts in the opposing team. Caterham started the match slowly after Wilsons were victorious in the opening Geometry and Trigonometry rounds, with Caterham falling nine points behind. However, the Caterham pupils began to gain momentum by working well together in the team round, and continued their comeback through into the later stages of the tie in the Algebra and Calculus rounds, bringing the difference between the two teams to just four points. Although the Caterham pupils hadn’t quite done enough to win the game and suffered a narrow defeat of 46-42, they displayed great potential and really enjoyed the competition.