Wednesday 29 April 2015

UKMT Challenge

Me and three friends took part in a mathematics competition on the 28th of April. We had a great time doing the maths questions and even though we didn't win (and therefore we won't progress to the national finals) it was a great trip for us all!

The first round saw the four of us (two year 8 girls and two year 9 boys) complete a group round where we had 45 minutes to answer 10 multi-stage questions. It was a lot of fun and we came across some rather challenging questions.

Stage two saw us split our group into two pairs where we had to complete a cross-number. Each of our pairs consisted of one year 8 girl and one year 9 boy. One pair had the across clues and the other pair had the down clues. Some of the clues relied on other clues being solved beforehand. It was a great round and we did significantly better than in our first round.

The third round was the shuttle round where teams were split into two pairs again. This time one of our pairs consisted of two year 8 girls and the other had two year 9 boys. The shuttle round saw teams competing against the clock to get the answers. Question 1 could be solved independently but questions 2-4 relied on the other pair getting their answer right. For example if question 1 was "What is 2+3?" (I would like to point out that it wasn't, the questions were much harder) then the first pair would pass on the answer to the second pair where, in the second question, it would be essential in the solving of the question. So when the second pair solve the second question they would pass the answer to the first pair where they need it to solve the third question etc. Within the shuttle round there were four mini-rounds comprising of four questions each.

Finally, we ran the relay race. Teams were split into pairs once again and one person from each pair ran up to the front of the hall to receive a maths question and ran back to their partner to complete it. Once the correct answer was given, the person from the pair would receive another maths question and give it to the other pair from the same team. This continued until the whistle was blown and all the scores were added up.

We loved being at the regional final and hopefully we'll be back again next year!


Sunday 12 April 2015

The Y Factor

On the 25th of February, myself and a whole host of other talented people took part in my school's talent competition known as 'The Y Factor'.

I thoroughly enjoyed the entire night, there was so many people and they were all so amazing at what they did. There were many singers, an adorable dance duo, a pianist, a magician (whose 'magic' didn't really work), the school band, and me: I sang and played piano.

Due to all of the acts' skill, I was absolutely convinced I wouldn't even make it into the top three. However, after much deliberating by the judges, the results were in... (X Factor style pause)

In third place: Taylor! She gave a stunning performance of 'Someone Like You'.
In second place: Jess who sang 'Make You Feel My Love'.
(Adele was rather a popular choice that night).
And in first place: MEEEEEE! I was astonished, I sang and played 'All of Me'.

The trophy is now sitting on my piano, looking shiny and well-polished.