The final group stage match of this year’s Hans Woyda Competition took place against The London Oratory School at home. The remaining squad members of Ryan (4 th ), Misha (6 th ), Lucas (L8 th ) and Adavya (U8 th ) helped me arrange my classroom into the battle chevron formation, after which a tube delay on our opponent’s side offered up plenty of time for some warm-up questions. Luckily, we were due for an early start regardless, and as such we were still making good time after The London Oratory had managed to overcome the challenges of the Piccadilly line. With both teams settled into their seats we prepared to start the match that would determine whether or not we make it through to the main knockout competition next term or end up competing for one of the plates instead. We were off to a strong start on the starter questions, and although an order of magnitude slip and a challenging three-way HCF question prevented us from getting full marks, Ryan managed to best his opponent ...
The talk “Behind the Scenes of Retirement Dreams” was given by Ms. French, a former teacher who became an actuary. She explained how actuaries use maths to help people plan for retirement and make sure pension schemes are fair and sustainable. Ms. French described different types of pensions, like Defined Benefit (DB) and Defined Contribution (DC), and showed how both employees and employers contribute to them. She also explained how actuaries calculate the value of future pension payments using interest rates and life expectancy. I found it really interesting how much maths and problem-solving goes into making sure people have enough money after they retire. Ms. French also shared how to get into actuarial science, mentioning online courses, podcasts, and professional exams. Her talk showed how a strong background in teaching and maths can lead to an exciting and meaningful career as an actuary. - Shlok