Thursday 8 May 2014 A student from The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) can count himself as one of the UK’s top 40 mathematicians in his age group following his performance in a national competition. Arvind Narayan, year 11, entered the Intermediate Mathematics Challenge run by the UK Mathematics Trust alongside around 200,000 students nationwide. Only the top 500 in each school year 9, 10 and 11 progressed to the next round, the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad. At GSAL, seven students were selected to sit the paper for the Olympiad and Arvind produced the standout performance. He achieved distinction, a gold medal, and an invitation to the National Mathematics Summer School, an honour reserved for the best 40 scorers in the competition. At the week-long summer school, the academic programme is designed to stimulate and inspire these promising young mathematicians, with whole group masterclasses, small group work and team competitions, as well as time set aside in the evenings for extra-curricular activities. Maths teacher Alison Jackson coordinates the competition at GSAL. She said: “I was delighted with our students’ results in the maths challenge, with seven progressing to the Olympiad; this in itself is a huge success story. Arvind’s distinction is a superb achievement and he has done exceptionally well to gain an invitation to the summer school.” A number of other GSAL students also did themselves proud in the Intermediate Mathematical Olympiad. Three year 11 students, pictured with Arvind (front), L-R Miheer Sonwalkar, Kaiser Lodhi and Aditya Munot, achieved merit certificates, as did two students who are still only in year 9 – Ciaran Duggan and Eric Rodriguez Boidi. General Senior School News
