Visiting Speaker: Ben Sparks

Ben Sparks is a Youtuber with over 10,000 subscribers and often has appeared on the popular channel Numberphile.

He hosted a session for a group of students from SPS and SPGS united by a love of mathematics. Split into two halves, the initial period was a talk covering a broad range of mathematics - including history and philosophy. Mathematical peaks sighted included irrational numbers, the discovery (invention?) of zero, complex numbers, and the Mandelbrot set. Students were delighted to be met by a QI-esque klaxon and flashing word whenever their answers had been anticipated.

After a short break, and some snacks, the students spent some time solving a range of problems related to irrational numbers and folding A4 paper. (Although the highlight here was possibly Ben's metric system supremacist rant). Finally, Ben Sparks finished off with a sprinkle of magic. Michael (6th) played a starring role as assistant and volunteer to Ben's mind-reading trick and later as straight man to his memory performance. A few algebraic tricks followed, which have been spotted around the school since. If asked to think of a two-digit number and square it, consider choosing a smaller rather than a larger number to increase the difficulty of the trickster trying to take a square root. (And perhaps this is a suggestion for how the "trick" might be done).

- Mr Morris

The Hans Woyda Trials

The Hans Woyda Maths competition is a London based interschool challenge. A big difference to other competitions is that it is a vertical year group team containing a Fourth, Sixth, Lower and Upper Eighth student (Years 9, 11, 12 & 13). The Hans Woyda’s main focus is speed, with seven sections of fast-paced questions. For instance, in the first section students only have 30 seconds to give their answers, and in the last section the first student to answer correctly gets all the points! The trials took place over multiple mornings and lunch breaks and students had to complete a time pressured test in order to claim a place in the St Paul’s squad. The top 3 students of each year group will each compete in one of the group matches of the Hans Woyda competition and will challenge other schools for the illustrious trophy. Here is a selection of some of the questions:

Problem Solving with Mykhailo

The maths society had the pleasure of welcoming one of our own, Mykhailo who presented a captivating talk on problem solving in mathematics. He began by telling us of his journey through mathematics, starting in Ukraine at the humble age of 7, where he agreed to compete in his first Olympiad in return for some Lego - a worthy reward. By the age of 11, however, he began to lose interest until a remarkable geometry teacher reignited his passion. From that point on, he was completely hooked on geometry, so much so that his Olympiad scores r eflected his singular focus: 0/7, 0/7, 0/7, and finally, 7/7, as he excelled in geometry alone. He, therefore, decided that it would be best for his progress if he stopped doing geometry altogether, focusing instead on the other 3 areas of math: Algebra, Arithmetic, and Number theory. He led us through a series of questions, seemingly impossible at the face of it but very manageable after explanation. Among the problems were a complex simultaneou...

Hans Woyda Final vs King's College School Wimbledon

Yesterday, six months after kicking off the 2024-25 Hans Woyda season with our annual friendly against SPGS, we were at long last on our way to the final. There was a palpable tension around the school site and an unmistakable atmosphere of excitement and anticipation, making it abundantly clear that the entire school had their minds on that afternoon’s Mathematics fixture. As I set off for the match with Yidong (4 th ), Shyamak (6 th ), Adavya (L8 th ), and Eason (U8 th ), accompanied by Dr Stoyanov for moral support and intimidation, pupils and staff had even gathered by the towpath to wish them well; unfortunately, they all seemed to be facing the wrong direction, but it was touching nevertheless. We made our way to the City of London School (which offered its services as neutral territory for the final), discussing tactics on the tube and working through a set of warm-up questions. We met the King’s College School Wimbledon side in the lobby as we arrived, and based on previou...

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