Record-Breaking 22,170 Students Registered For Newcastle Permanent Primary School Mathematics Comp
- intouch Magazine
- Oct 6, 2021
- 2 min read
Today 22,170 students from regional NSW will make history as they take to their screens for the annual Newcastle Permanent Primary School Mathematics Competition.
Delivered digitally for the first time, the exam will test the numeracy and problem-solving skills of year five and six students from 363 NSW schools.
Newcastle Permanent CEO, Bernadette Inglis, said the organisation wasn’t going to let the current COVID-19 lockdowns stand in the way of the 2021 competition.
“There’s no doubt COVID-19 has created many barriers to student learning, but time and again teachers and students have proved their resilience and found new ways of working. We know how much students across regional NSW look forward to this competition each year, so we’ve done the same, adapting to an online solution.
“Giving back to our community is at the heart of who we are as a customer owned organisation, and we’re delighted to give local students something to get excited about. Which we can see they are, by the record number of registered participants this year!” she said.
This year’s record number of participants includes over 22,000 students from 363 schools in the regional NSW.
“Our maths competition is about encouraging students at all skill levels to get enthusiastic about maths and challenge their problem solving skills. Providing an opportunity for students to experience maths in real life situations in a fun way is also really important,” Ms Inglis said.
The Newcastle Permanent Primary School Mathematics Competition has gone from strength to strength. It now attracts 20,000 more students than when the first competition was held in 1981, when just 2,337 students participated. It is the largest and longest-running competition of its kind in Australia, with more than half a million students having participated since its inception.
“We wish all participating schools and students the very best of luck in the competition, whether they’re completing it from home or from school, and look forward to presenting the awards to our star mathematicians later this year,” said Ms Inglis.
The Newcastle Permanent Primary School Mathematics Competition is completed without a ruler or calculator. Winners will be awarded complimentary Newcastle Permanent accounts, with top performers also invited to compete in the annual Newcastle Permanent Primary School Online Mathematics Team Challenge in May 2022.
