This week, Year 12 student Eamon J competed alongside more than 200 Newington maths aficionados in the Australian Maths Competition. Eamon and fellow maths scholars Hugo N and Paul H explain their love of employing maths to solve problems.

 Eamon J sees the beauty and the power of mathematics everywhere.  

‘Maths is deeply related to the real world,’ says Eamon, captain of Moulton House and member of Newington 1st Tennis team for the past four years. 

‘Maths is obviously linked to every aspect of our modern lives in ways we can’t even conceive of but as someone who loves and understands maths, I just see maths everywhere. People talk about the golden ratio and aesthetics, and to me, there is an inherently mathematical quality of beauty in the world around us.’ 

Working towards his International Baccalaureate Diploma, Eamon is studying Mathematics Analysis and Approaches (HL), Physics, Economics, Mandarin and Geography. He discovered his prowess with maths as a child however he doesn’t ascribe to the often prescribed theory that some people have a brain for maths, and others do not. 

‘I think everyone has a brain for maths,’ he says magnanimously. 

‘The question is whether you find yourself enjoying maths. For me, that happened when I first got addicted to the feeling when things clicked. Maths is great because truly good maths isn’t rote learning. Rather, it’s a more creative discipline that requires ingenuity. But at the same time there are still parameters of objectivity which I like because it makes things fair.’ 

It’s a sentiment younger Newington mathematicians Hugo N and Paul H understand. Both Year 10 students are currently studying Year 12 Extension 2 Maths and agree, it’s finding solutions in unexpected ways to curly quandaries, that appeals. 

‘In the syllabus, I enjoy learning about complex numbers the most as I find it very interesting although I enjoy all kinds of problems, particularly problems within number theory,’ says Paul who like Eamon, is a committed Newington tennis player. He also enjoys cubing, that is the discipline of solving Rubik’s Cubes and other brain teasers and puzzles. 

‘To me, maths helps me solve problems in the real world through nurturing logic and critical thinking and reason.’  

This week 221 of Eamon’s, Hugo’s and Paul’s Newington maths counterparts, many who are also part of Newington’s Academic Enrichment Program, compete in the Australian Maths Competition. Earlier this year, they put their considerable grey matter to work in global competition,  Kangourou sans Frontières (KSF) which attracts six million secondary school participants and more than 200 Newington participants and the UNSW’s School of Mathematics and Statistic High School Maths Competition. Last year in the UNSW comp, Hugo and Paul excelled alongside fellow students Rhys HB and Benjamin M in the junior division. In the senior division, Eamon, Sebastian W and Preston Z also demonstrated their mathematical panache. This year’s results are yet to be released. 

Paul H says when it comes to tackling these competitions, and others such as the Australian Intermediate Maths Olympiad, he strives to factor in all his learning.  

‘I find the AIMO the hardest as it often requires deep thinking to solve a question,’ he says.  

‘When solving difficult questions, I always try many different approaches, and it is important to persevere and not give up.’ 

Likewise, Hugo, who when he is not solving maths equations, plays violin with the College Chamber Strings ensemble and the Symphony Orchestra, pulls out all stops to solve questions.  

Hugo was awarded a silver medal in this year’s invitational Australian Maths Olympiad, held in February. A two day contest comprising four questions each day, less than 200 students from Australia and New Zealand are invited to participate in this event, in which Eamon also received an Honourable Mention. 

Says Hugo, ‘to approach difficult questions, I think of the many things that I have learnt and try to utilise them in the problems.’ 

Mr Luke Dudman, Assistant Head of Mathematics at Newington, says competitions such the Australian Maths Competition, UNSW Maths Comp and Australian Intermediate Maths Olympiad, are designed to assess mathematical insight, critical and creative thinking and ingenuity rather than just efficiency in tackling routine examples.  

‘While syllabus mathematics focuses on structured methods and formulaic solutions, these competitions challenge students to think deeply, creatively, and often laterally,’ says Mr Dudman. 

“Newington supports this kind of mathematical thinking through a rich and varied program that includes streamed enrichment classes in the junior years such as Euclid in Year 8, Gauss in Year 9, and Noether in Year 10, as well as project-based learning tasks like the Year 7 video project and the Year 8 pool project.  

‘Maths students also benefit from advanced academic pathways such as the IGCSE Extended and Additional Mathematics courses, as well as a wide range of competition opportunities detailed above that Eamon, Hugo and Paul and many others enjoy,’ he continues.  

‘These include the AMC, KSF, UNSW Maths Competition, Coding Competitions, and selective entry into the Mathematics Olympiads. To further support independent and blended learning, digital platforms such as Mathspace and DESMOS are also embedded across our programs.’ 

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To read more about academic opportunities available at Newington, you can read our blogs ‘Brainpower blooms at Newington Scholars Club‘ and ‘Newington shines critical thinking light‘.