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Regulus
Teaching and Learning
13
Well done to the students who competed in Korea recently
at the Young Physicists Competition and brought home a
bronze award. The only students from Christchurch, the
team comprised Seungjun Bang (captain), David Huang,
Milin Babu John and Peter Yu (all Year 10), supported by
Mary McNulty and Kevin Barron.
Peter Yu says he would recommend the experience ‘in
a heartbeat’. “I really enjoyed how the tournament was
structured. We had time aplenty after each round to better
our results and experimentations.”
For Milin Babu John it was the ‘physics fights’ that really
got the competition moving. “A presenting team who
would present their solution to the problem, and then
there would be an opposing team, who would analyse the
presenting team’s solution and then give critique on it,
which would eventually lead in to an in-depth scientific
discussion on the problem. Both teams had to try and
show the judges the extent to which they had studied
the problem.”
The students returned thrilled to be among the teams
that ranked in the bronze level, and with hundreds of new
contacts of keen physics students from around the world.
Young physicists
in
Korea
Adding
win
upa
Year 9 students - Russell Boey, Bryson Chen, Erik
Goesmann and Zachary Scheiwe - did St Andrew’s proud at
the recent Cantamaths Competition.
There were 63 teams from 34 secondary schools from
Canterbury and the West Coast competing in the Year 9
event. Maths teacher David Rodda says it was a loud and
exciting competition with lots of shouting from the crowd
and runners sprinting to get questions marked and back to
their teams.
The St Andrew’s team won the competition narrowly from
Burnside High School by getting the last question right.
The team got the perfect score with all 20 questions
correct and won themselves a graphical calculator each,
and a $250 Every Educaid gift voucher for the Mathematics
Department to purchase resources to assist teaching.
David says he was very proud of the students as they
had prepared by doing lots of in-class competitions and
studying questions in their own time.
Laura Heazlewood and Sam Robertson are this year’s
Strowan Scottish Scholars. They travelled to Scotland
in September where they spent four weeks visiting
some of the most prestigious schools in Scotland.
For Sam a highlight of the trip was his stay at the
small Queen Victoria School. It has a roll of only 280
students over seven year groups and they all have
a connection to the Scottish military. “I was treated
to a parade day where they showed off their military
connections,” he says.
Laura’s introduction to Scotland began the minute she
arrived. “My first host family introduced me to haggis
and Iron-Bru, which are very Scottish.”
Both students were overwhelmed by the generosity
and welcome they received from everyone they met
during their travels around Scotland.
Scottish Scholars
Zachary Scheiwe, Bryson Chen, Erik Goesmann, Russell Boey.
Peter Yu, David Huang, Seungjun Bang and Milin Babu John.
Laura Heazlewood and Sam Robertson are the 2014 Strowan
Scholars.