Our Sixth Form and selected Key Stage 4 students took part in the “Maths Inspiration” show on Monday 4^th December 2023 at Saffron Hall in Saffron Walden

The show was a unique opportunity to participate in a national programme of interactive maths lectures aimed at teenagers. Inspiring speakers such as Collin Wright (Patterns predictions and juggling), Alison Kiddle (Risk and Reward) and Matt Scroggs (Maths and the video game arcade), ran the lectures who present mathematics live, in a context of exciting real-world applications!

Collin Wright’s very entertaining talk showed us how spotting patterns can help in a surprising number of situations, including the invention of new juggling tricks. But beware, patterns aren’t always as predictable as they seem!

Alison Kiddle’s talk introduced us to micromorts (the unit of risk defined as a one-in-a-million chance of death) When we make decisions, we have to weigh up the risks of our choices and decide whether the potential rewards make it worthwhile. But when it comes to assessing risk, humans are notoriously bad at estimating how likely events are. Students were led to discover the ways probability and statistics help us to find certainty in an unpredictable world.

Matt Scrogg made us ask: How can I do a Pac-Man speedrun? Was Pac-Man the first 3D video game? Do any retro video games take place on the surface of a sphere? And did Asteroids enter another dimension?  This talk answered these questions and more, as we took a look at some maths related to classic arcade machine games.

Students were enthused and amused, very inspired to be shown a fun side of maths and everyday applications!

Mrs Hrabak, Mr Atkins Mrs Wood and Mrs Wallbank escorted our students, with Mrs Wallbank on the spotlight signing on stage!