A little something, somewhere succeeded in occupying me, as I made that somewhat extra effort to dress in a slightly smarter attire to bid farewell to my final session of The Mathematics Masterclasses held at Wilson’s School in Sutton...
Getting dropped off as usual with the addition of an unusually strange looking bag, which I had been strictly instructed to ‘hold as still as possible’,
I made my final journey towards The Lecture Theatre to cast my eyes upon the many familiar, yet unknown faces, on this sweetly strange Saturday morning…Taking a seat in the room, the realisation was dawning upon me that after ‘eight thought-provoking’ sessions of Mathematics, this fulfilling mental journey was now finally come to an end…
Our last lecture was delivered by Mr G Hoare whom had formerly attended Dr Challoner’s School in Amersham. He introduced us to ‘Moving Symbols’. The main theme was based around the idea of finding the unknown, ×.
Finding x could not have been made any easier for me with methods such as:
- Factorisation
- Simple equations
- Worded problems
The simplicity of this exercise completely baffled my mind into sheer amazement, as after seven very challenging weeks of very high level activities and lecturing, I failed to comprehend why we were given such an easy piece of work that was perhaps the equivalent of National Curriculum Level 7!
A picture of a square was projected on the board, and after turning the page the same square was printed in the booklet.
The Magic Square!
However, this square had the following question:
‘Find numbers for the missing square, so that rows columns and long diagonals all add up to 1995’.
At the first glimpse of attempting this exercise, believe it or not my mind came to a halt...Luckily after several silent blank shots; I managed to figure out the answer.
Our lecturer gave us a very detailed explanation of the answer, after which he asked us to continue similar questions, which used the same methods...
Whilst running through the exercises, we are also allowed to have our lunch…This is where you get to find out what I was carrying in the odd looking bag that was carefully packed and given to me: Our Lanfranc group of boys wanted to have a treat to mark the end of our classes, so dad made us mum’s favourite dish; Chicken Jalfrezi with Rice, accompanied with Chicken Drumsticks… (It added heat to the problem-solving we were working on)!
After making our way back to the Lecture Theatre, our lecturer also did a re-run over the answers to the questions that he gave us; this then led into the informal certificate giving ceremony in front of very proud Parents… Speaking of which, mine approached the organiser of the classes at Wilson’s school at the end to enquire ‘How thirty out of one hundred pupils would be chosen to attend the one complete week of Summer Masterclasses in London?’ I was absolutely relieved to learn that I, having shown much commitment and enthusiasm was put forward to The Royal Institute by this lovely lady that came over to The Lanfranc Group quite often to praise our dedication and attendance…
Well this brings me to the end of this very unique and mind-opening experience that I have had the pleasure to participate in over an exhilarating eight-week period. Many have asked me ‘how’ I will be filling up my Saturday mornings after this, But those that know me more will also see that the Cricket season has leaped out towards me and handed me my bat, ball and field placing! If you’re wondering and thinking that Maths and Cricket are two very separate entities; I’ll have you all know the one thing that I have learned over the past few months and that is; there is more Maths in Life than we care to think and I have to agree with the words of my final lecturer:
Maths is the Only universal language that exists…
On this note I’d like to take the opportunity to, Thank all of my readers that have taken the time and have been following my blog religiously.