This term, some of our Key Stage 3 students have had exciting opportunities to take part in both national and county-level maths challenges.

One highlight was our involvement in the Herts for Learning Year 8 Maths Challenge. Competing against eleven other schools from across Hertfordshire, a team of four Year 8 students represented Bushey Meads in a high-energy, after-school live stream event. The challenge included four rounds: general maths questions, a memory challenge, estimation tasks, and more advanced problem-solving.

In the particularly tricky memory round, two students had to memorise a detailed maths poster in timed bursts, then describe it to their teammates who recreated it from their instructions—a real test of communication and recall. Across the rounds, students worked both independently and collaboratively to solve problems, earning points for correct and near-correct answers. Impressively, the BMS team scored above the heat average in two of the rounds, which was especially noteworthy given the level of difficulty and that this was our first year entering. The organisers praised our students’ performance and team spirit.

In the same week, students from Years 7 and 8 also took on the UK Maths Trust Junior Challenge. This national competition involves a 25-question paper completed in one hour, with increasingly challenging questions that reward higher marks. The challenge aims to stretch students’ mathematical reasoning and encourage them to apply their knowledge in new and creative ways.

This is a regular event in the BMS maths calendar, and our students continue to rise to the occasion, building on the success of past entrants in both the Junior and Intermediate levels. We now eagerly await their results and certificates, and look forward to more brilliant performances in future challenges.