The following items have been extracted from the parents newsletters written
by Mr Thewliss four times a year.

June 2008

We have had considerable success again in our maths challenges this year.

Scottish Maths Challenge

Bronze Certificate - Urvashi Srivastava S2

Silver Certificate - Nikolaus Blow S2

Nikolaus was presented with his certificate along with the other regional winners at the University of St. Andrews.

UK Maths Challenge

This nationwide competition includes the name of Harris into an arena where our mathematically able pupils can compete with other very talented pupils, many of whom represent prestigious schools throughout the U.K.  This year, we won a total of 35 bronze, 27 silver and 8 gold awards.

In the recent Junior challenge the award winners were –

S2   GOLD     Sarah El-Sheikh

SILVER   Jamie Braidwood, Hannah McDade, Cara Lutz, Feargus Schofield, Fatima Rehman, Jodie Pollard, Andrew Laing, Kerr Masterton, Lisa Scott, Grant Bell

BRONZE Katy Robertson. Monisha Ahmed, Naomi Potter, Stefan Mallows, Mhairi Paton, Urvashi Srivastava, Lucy Butler, Scott Davidson

S1   GOLD     Eilidh Avison, Cameron Smart, Sophie Dolderer, Alex Simpson

SILVER   Alexander Hussien Kershaw, Shona Macfarlane, Rose Crowe

BRONZE   Basil Ibrahim, Rebecca Leith, Calum Malcolm, James Owen Hughes

Eilidh Avison was judged to be the best performer in the school.

Thanks to the P.T.P.A. for tirelessly working to fund this achievement–raising venture and to all the pupils who took part.

Team Maths

This year, for the first time, we entered a team from S1 and S2 for this competition held in Aberdeen for schools in the whole north east of Scotland. They spent the day completing several mathematical challenges and finished an excellent 7^th place out of 29 schools competing. Well done!

The team was

S2 - Nikolaus Blow, F1
Robertson, F9

S1- Eilidh Avison,  F10
Alexander Simpson, F9

Number Partners

On June 10^th thirty five volunteers from our new S6 took part in training for Number Partners which is now into its 4^th year at Harris Academy.

Starting in August they will be working with Maths classes in S1 to S3 helping younger pupils to develop their mental maths skills and gain more confidence in their number work through the use of maths games.

Jaguar Cars Maths in Motion Challenge

This Challenge involves pupils working together in pairs, competing against each other in an effort to win a Grand Prix type race to become U.K. Champions. The activity involves using a wide variety of mathematical skills ranging from the measurement of angles and scale to the use of percentages and higher level skills.

 This year a car designed by Alexander Simpson and Eilidh Avison won the regional heat of the competition. This took us into the UK semi-final where a car designed by Fraser Lundie and Sam Fyall came 27^th out of 60 and just missed out on a place in the final. Planning has now started for the 2008-9 challenge

Maths Club

The school maths club has been formed in order to encourage and engage pupils in mathematics by introducing them to aspects which may not usually be covered in the school curriculum.

The club meets every Friday at lunchtime and includes work on puzzles, games, competitions, computer games and internet sites. We recently received funding from Edinburgh Mathematical Society and this has allowed us to purchase some extra games and puzzles for all year groups.

March 2008

Maths Challenge – Intermediate

In February, 120 of our pupils in S3 and S4 were entered in this competition.  It challenges their problem solving skills and allows them to pit their wits against schools nationwide in the UK.  Entering these pupils is done at a considerable financial cost, and the Harris PTPA have generously funded all of these ventures from the start.  They are constantly active in fund-raising for school events like this and others and run many raffles, school and social activities to raise this cash.  It is largely due to their efforts that our pupils and the school are consistently successful in winning awards.  The award winners this time were:

S4 Gold – Nicholas Foxall, Amy Fawns

S4 Silver – Alain Warden, Chris Rooney, Si Chen, Laurie Macfarlane, John Walkinshaw, Fiona Beckett, Alex McMillan

S4 Bronze – Salam Hassam, Kirsty Reilly, Ross Teviotdale, Jodie Donachy, Adam Henderson, Marc Johnston, Cheryl McWilliams, Sam O’Connor, Grant MacLachlan, Khieran McIlroy

S3 Silver – Fiona Leslie, Miriam Chappell, Elaine Abbott

S3 Bronze – Mhairi Fenton, Emily Ralston, Leo Rubczak, Jan Swedlow, Kieran Pitkethly, Chris Adams, Ruth Fell, Michaela Netto

In addition to a gold award, Nicholas Foxall was also the school’s best pupil, and with his exceptional ability is now being presented to represent the school in the advanced stages of the competition.  Congratulations to all the winners.

December 2007

Number Partners

Schools Fantasy League Football

The Schools Fantasy League is now well under way with over 40 staff and pupils entering the league. With £70 million to spend on players and three transfers available each month a fair amount of skill is needed to pick a winning team.

Early leaders are Andre Pall S4 and Andrew Stewart S3. However there is plenty of time to go and managers will need to look out for suspensions, injuries and loss of form.

S2/S3 Maths Masterclasses

The Royal Institution is running Maths masterclasses at Abertay University on Saturday mornings from November through to March. We have six S2 pupils involved this year - Katy Robertson, Sarah El-Sheikh, Lucy Butler, Greg Melrose, Grant Bell and Nikolaus Blow. There have been two workshops this term and there will be a further four after the Christmas break.

Jaguar Cars Maths in Motion Challenge

This Challenge involves pupils working together in pairs, competing against each other in an effort to win a Grand Prix type race to become U.K. Champions. The activity involves using a wide variety of mathematical skills ranging from the measurement of angles and scale to the use of percentages and higher level skills.

A group of S1 to S3 pupils are meeting every Tuesday at lunchtime to prepare for the regional heat which takes place in March 2008. In the first practice race the winning car was designed by Eilidh Avison and Jamie Hughes and in the second race the winners were Alexander Simpson and Kate McIntosh.

Maths Club

The school maths club has been formed in order to encourage and engage pupils in mathematics by introducing them to aspects which may not usually be covered in the school curriculum.

The club meets every Friday at lunchtime and includes work on puzzles, games, competitions, computer games and internet sites.

In April we have an S1/2 team entering the first round of the UK Team Challenge in Aberdeen and in June 2008 an S2/3 team will take part in the Enterprising Maths competition in Dundee.

SMC Maths Challenge

Fifteen pupils from S1 to S3 have completed the first round of the Scottish Maths Challenge. This is a problem solving competition for individual pupils in Scottish secondary schools and problems are sent out to schools twice a year. Marks are given for explanations of answers rather than for simply getting the correct answer. Gold, Silver and Bronze Certificate winners are announced after the final set of problems and the top winners are invited to a prize-giving ceremony.

Senior Maths Challenge

On 8 November 15 S5 and S6 pupils sat the Senior Maths Challenge, along with 87380 other students from across the UK.  8 of them successfully gained awards – congratulations to them:

Gold – Philip McGavin S6

Bronze – Yunlu Li S6, Helen Lui S5, Aisha Schofield S5

As a result of Philip’s high score he was invited to take part in the British Mathematics Olympiad on 30 November.  This was a very challenging 3 ½ hour paper, only sat by 1300 pupils nationwide, and a great achievement for Philip to have been selected.

October 2007

Number Partners

We are into our third year working on Number Partners at Harris Academy. In June, over 40 of our S6 pupils took part in Number Partners training and since August they have been working one period a week with our S1, and S2 maths classes.

Number Partners is aimed at developing mental maths through the use of maths games. Our S6 volunteers work with classes to give them practice and confidence in their number work through discussing the problems they meet in the maths games.

Schools Fantasy League Football

The school has entered the fantasy league again this year and we are looking to get a place in the top twenty schools in Scotland. The more teams that enter our own league the better chance we have of doing this.

S2/S3 Maths Masterclasses

The Royal Institution is running Maths masterclasses in Dundee on six Saturday mornings from November through to March and we have four places available for S2/S3 pupils. Any S2/S3 pupils interested in attending should speak to their class teacher.

June 2007

Junior Mathematical Challenge:

In April, we entered 120 pupils in S1 and S2 in this competition. It tests pupils on different topics and problem solving and requires substantial mathematical ability.

This year, almost 50 pupils were awarded either a gold, silver or bronze certificate of merit for their performance. The pupils were:-

Gold (S1)

Nikolaus Blow, Sarah Elsheikh, Katy Robertson and Aya Kato.

Silver (S1)

Jodie Pollard, Jack Avison, Fergus Scholfield, Urvashsi Srivastava, Heather Wright, Sean Docherty and Fatima Rehman.

Bronze (S1)

Grant Bell, Jiawen Chan, Justine Whyte, Greg Melrose and Scott Davidson.

Gold (S2)

Leo Rubczak and Mhairi Fenton.

Silver (S2)

Elaine Abbott, Emily Spasic, Jan Swedlow Thomas Walkinshaw , Grant McGeoghie, Sarra El-Wahed, Kieran Pitkethly, Susannah Cummins, Elliot Flockhart, Freya Schofield, Hayleigh Cameron and  Miriam Chappell.

Bronze (S2)

Ben Mcleod, Adam Garvin, Fiona Leslie, Hannah Kane, Bradley Pollrad, Naushin Narwar, Brandon Lee, Emily Ralston, Ruth Fell, Tara Mathews, Adam Brown, Harriet King, Catriona McNeish, Iona Currie and Laura Jackson.

Nickolaus Blow was also the best performing pupil in the school.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Jaguar Maths in Motion Challenge:

A group of third year pupils, Chris Rooney, Ross Teviotdale , Si Chen and Nathan Robertson. Won through to the UK semi final winning the regional competition.

The boys used their mathematical skills to set up a virtual car, plotting its way around the grand prix circuits taking into account factor such as the weather, fuel consumption and engine tuning.

A great effort in only out first attempt, the target is a podium finish next year!

Number Partners

In September 2005 Harris Academy became the first school in Scotland to participate in Number Partners.

Number Partners is a volunteering scheme designed to support young people with their number skills in the school. Volunteers play specially designed maths board games with two pupils for one period a week, generating discussion about numbers and developing pupils` interpersonal skills.

The aims of the project are to:

Provide individual maths support for pupils

Raise achievement in numeracy

Use Number related activities to develop number skills.

Improve mental skills in numeracy.

Develop confidence and motivation to learn.

This month 45 of our S6 pupils took part in a training day to prepare them to work as volunteers with S1/2 classes.

Evaluations of the first two years of the project have been very good. Pupils enjoy playing the games, feel more confident about their number work and are improving their competence with numbers.

Enterprising Mathematics

On Friday 15^th June 2 teams of 4 pupils each represented Harris Academy at the Dundee round of the Enterprising Mathematics Competition.

Red Team

Blue Team

The competition was spread over 5 rounds of different mathematical challenges, games and questions. Although neither team won the overall competition both teams did well in the Poster Round, gaining Second place and commended rosettes. The Posters featured the work of the Swiss Mathematician Leonhard Euler.

Congratulations to all those who took part, for their hard work and enthusiasm.

March 2007

In February, 100 pupils in S3 and S4 were entered in the Maths Challenge Competition at Intermediate level.  Over one third of these pupils gained an award certificate.  They were: 

S3

Gold:  Nicholas Foxall, Alain Warden, Chris Rooney, Callum Moir, Catherine Sloan.

Silver: Lauren Findlay, Alix Forbes, Laurie Macfarlane, Adlina Affendi, Alex Hammond, Iain Fotheringham.

Bronze: Amy Fawns, Francis Bryceland, Rachel Anderton.

S4 

Silver: Nedelcho Georgiev, Sara Sands, Aisha Schofield, Marian Chen, Louise Flockhart, Jennifer Obzda, Alice King, Isabel Muller, Samantha Pendrich, Neil Davidson.

Bronze: Rachael Orchiston, Aaron Peters, Andrew Simpson, Thomas Cartwright, Mohammed Kali, Dean Lynch.

Nicholas Foxall and Alain Warden were the best pupils in the school this time.  Congratulations to all the award winners.

December 2006

Institution Mathematics Masterclasses for Young People

This year four of our S2 pupils, Freya Schofield, Emily Spasic, Elaine Abbott and Ben McLeod are attending these masterclasses organised by Tayside by the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Partnership.  The masterclasses are a series of lectures and workshops for mathematically able 13 and 14 year olds with the aim of stimulating and encouraging them in mathematics outwith typical school maths work.  The classes contain a mixture of formal tuition and informal discussion and allow pupils to experience “real” maths.  The topics covered, though not normally taught to this age group, represent important areas of maths and its applications.  All topics are within pupils’ capabilities, and an essential feature of the masterclasses is to give pupils the opportunity to enable them to grasp a better understanding of the subject.  

Number Partners

We are now into our second year working on Number Partners at Harris Academy.  In June, 26 of our S6 pupils took part in Number Partners training and since August they have been working one period a week with our S1 and S2 maths classes.  Number Partners is aimed at developing mental maths through the use of maths games.  Our S6 volunteers work with classes to give them practice and confidence in their number work through discussing the problems they meet in the maths games.  

Through Number Partners we are aiming to:

Raise achievement in numeracy

Enhance mental skills

Develop confidence and motivation

The benefits to the pupils involved are:

Individual numeracy support and attention

Interaction with positive role models

Support and interest in their progress from a senior pupil

Our S6 volunteers all deserve to be mentioned as their hard work, skill, patience and understanding has ensured that Number Partners has been a success.

The S6 volunteers this year are: Catherine Zhang, Zahra El-Wahed, Pamela Pirie, Malcolm Hutchison, Fawaz Ossman, Emma Sands, Stewart Findlay, Jade Martin, Carolin Bell, Fiona Fraser, Marc Wilson, Simon Brown, Nabla Pall, Kirstin Fyfe, Sadiya Kali, Kevin Gibb, Jody Rae, Duncan Grant, Julie Beckett, Emma Cartwright, Justine Stark, Matthew Howie and Scott Pearson.

Senior Maths Challenge

On Thursday 9^th November, 20 fifth and sixth year pupils took part in the National Senior Maths Challenge.  80,560 students from 1886 schools in the UK took part and the following students gained awards:

Gold & Best in School:  Boyang Li, Philip McGavin

Silver:            Malcolm Hutchison, Catherine Zhang

Bronze: David Ewen, Jeremy Jefferies, Yun Lu Li, Jody Rae, Jack Walker.

Congratulations to all!

June 2006

Maths Challenge Competitions

In April, 120 pupils in S1 and S2 were entered in the UK Junior Maths Challenge.  The competition run by the University of Leeds had over 240,000 entrants nationwide this year.  The competition sets challenging puzzles and maths questions to these able pupils in order to stretch their abilities in mathematical thinking.  Many of our pupils won Gold, Silver or Bronze awards.

In addition, Nicholas Foxall of S2 was the highest scoring pupil in the school.

Earlier in the year, 2 of our S3/4 pupils participated in the difficult intermediate advanced maths competition.  They were Aisha Schofield of S3 and Philip McGavin of S4.  Philip won a certificate of merit for his outstanding performance being in the top 25% of his group.  Congratulations to all the pupils who won prizes and well done to all the participants for their hard work and enthusiasm.

In September 2005 Harris Academy became the first school in Scotland to participate in Number Partners. Number Partners is a volunteering scheme designed to support young people with their number skills in school. Volunteers play specially designed games with two pupils for an hour each week, generating discussion about numbers and developing pupils’ interpersonal skills. The aims of the project are to -
 

In June 2005 twenty of our S6 pupils took part in a training day to prepare them to work with classes. We have also established a link with Clydesdale Bank and each week staff from the bank visit one of our S1 classes. Evaluations of the first year of the project have been very good. Pupils enjoy playing the games, feel more confident about their number work and are improving their competence with numbers. Training for new volunteers will take place early in June 2006. Anyone interested in becoming a Number Partner volunteer or requiring more information about the scheme should contact the school.

UK Intermediate Maths Challenge 2006

Every year, we enter some of our brightest S3 and S4 pupils in this competition run by the University of Leeds. Once again our pupils performed with distinction and were awarded certificates in recognition of their mathematical ability.

This time, Philip McGavin was the best pupil in the school, and he and Aisha Schofield have now gone forward to the advanced stage of the competition. Congratulations to both of them for their outstanding performance and to all the other winners.

Engineering for Life

In January, 15 S1 pupils from Maths and Technological Studies attended a project “New Orleans: What next? Engineering for life”. The pupils took part in 5 interactive demonstrations which dealt with disaster recovery in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina; providing life systems e.g. potable water in the developing world by, bridge building and town planning.

Our pupils responded well to the project and as enjoyable afternoon was spent by all especially when 85% of a town’s population was saved from using chemically contaminated water by their actions.

October 2005

Senior Maths Challenge

In November, some of our pupils in S5/6 took part in the UK Senior Maths Challenge ran by the University of Leeds.  The competition is open to pupils in schools across the UK and this year, 14 Harris pupils were entered out of a total of 75,200 nationwide.  The following pupils won certificates for their above average achievement:

Our Maths department continue with their programme of interesting young people in the subject.

Number Partners — Harris Academy became the first Scottish school to participate in the Number Partners project when a training day was held in the school on Thursday 9th June.
The aims of the project are to:

Raise achievement in numeracy
Use number-related activities to develop number skills
Enhance mental skills in numeracy
Develop confidence and motivation to learn
Give a positive insight into the business world

The school received funding from Edinburgh Mathematic Society and Dundee City Council to cover the cost of training and the purchase of mathematical games. Trained volunteers will work with two pupils for 30 minutes per week playing mathematical games.

The benefits to pupils will be:

Individual numeracy support and attention
Regular opportunities for one-to-one discussion to improve their mathematical skills
Interaction with positive role models
Support and interest in their progress from a senior pupil or adult.

Our volunteers will be S6 pupils and employees from the Clydesdale Bank. Members of the Mathematics Department and Support for Learning Department also attended the training session.

Our associated primaries are also involved in the project and we hope to have some of our senior pupils working as volunteers in primary schools. The project will be launched in the school in September.

Junior Maths Challenge - Every April, we enter pupils in this prestigious nationwide competition run by the University of Leeds School of Mathematics. Harris pupils always do well and this year won 16 bronze, 12 silver and 7 gold certificates.

The pnzewinners were:
 
Gold: Aisha Schofiled, Sara Sands, Louise Flockhart, Marian Chen, Anna Bums, lain Fotheringham, Catherine Sloan.

Silver: Marianne Wood, Brogan Archibald, Darren Lester, Rachael Orchiston, Christie Start, Sophie Adams, Andrew Simpson, Alice King, Anirita Chima, Jamie Baird, Laurie Macfarlane, Nicholas Foxall.

Bronze: Josh Harrison, Thomas Cartwright, Dean Lynch, Mohammed Kai, Megan McDade, Scott Findlay, Hannah Wilson, Victor Mackay, Rachel Key, Kirsty Reilly, John Walkinshaw, Amy Fawns, Gillian Carter, Adlina Affendi, Alec Hammond, Suzanne Dand.
 
In addition, Aisha Schofield scored the highest mark in the school and has now gone on to the advanced mathematics “Olympiad” competition. Congratulations to all the pupils who entered for their enthusiasm and hard work.

March 2005

Maths Challenge Competition

Each year, we enter some of our most mathematically able pupils in this nationwide contest run by the University of Leeds.  Our pupils usually perform very well in this testing competition and this year was no exception.  In the Intermediate section for S3 and S4 pupils, 34 certificates of merit were awarded:

They were        7 gold               10 silver           17 bronze.

The best pupil in the school was Catherine Zhang.  Catherine, along with Bu yun Zhao and Adam Foxall had scores high enough to be entered in an Advanced Challenge later this month.  So good luck to them and congratulations to all the pupils who took part for their hard work and success.

Enterprising Maths

In June the Harris Academy team of Philip McGavin, Tess Forbes‑McMurchie, Pamela Graham and Ross Waddell won the Dundee schools round of the Enterprising Maths Competition.

On 11th November they travelled to the University of Strathclyde, Jordanhill Campus in Glasgow to represent Dundee in the National Final. 65 schools competed in a full day of various mathematical puzzles and challenges. Although not placed in the top 4 teams, the Harris pupils competed well and thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Senior Maths Challenge

On 9th November pupils in the Advanced Higher Maths class sat the UK Senior Maths Challenge, along with 69280 others from around the country. This was an hour and a half paper with 25 tough but interesting questions. 50% of the entries nationally gained an award and our winners were:
Silver: Hamza Yakub
Bronze: Mark Lynn, Johnny Li, Stephanie Scott-Flynn

UK Junior Maths Challenge

This term, our Maths Department entered 83 pupils from S1 and S2 in the UK Junior Maths Challenge Competition run by the University of Leeds.  This competition is entered by many schools throughout the UK.  Of our pupils, 54 were awarded certificates of merit.  In addition, Philip McCavin (best in school) and David Ewen were entered in the advanced “Olympiad” competition because of their outstanding performance.

Gold:

Philip McGavin, David Ewen, Jamie McCabe, Tess Forbes-McMurchie, Darren Lester

Silver:

Jack Brewer, Anna Hine, Sean Robertson, Andrew Baird, Seonaid Rogers, Tanya Hendrie, Esther Robertson, Leanne Milne, Beth Scanlan, Neil Davidson, Aisha Schofield, Jennifer McLaren, Aaron Peters, Mark Dastoori.

Bronze:

Finlay Caird, Lisa Blues, Lara McLean, Jack Trezise, Olivia Walesby, Danny Wong, Zoe Jordan, Jemma Galbraith, Malcolm Mackenzie, Daniel McCabe, Nicola Chalmers, Fyan Fleming, Bilal Hussain, Lewis Fenton, Ivan Havranek, Natan Peters, Andrew Culley, Olivia Walker, Pamela Graham, Ross Waddell, Cara Macfarlane, Ceilidh Scott, David Clement, Jennifer Houston, Sara Sands, Katie Parker, Ryan Pollard, Alice King, Marian Chen, Andrew Simpson, Sean Duncan, Mohamed Kali.

Congratulations to all these pupils for their fine performance.

March 2004

Intermediate Maths Challenge

The current S3/4 pupils maintained the exceptionally high standards set by pupils in previous years.

Best In School — Daniel Hine (S4)

Gold: Catherine Zhang, Buyan Zhao, Malcolm Hutchison, Steven Gibson (all S3); Daniel Hine, Samuel Livie (both S4).

Silver: Caroline Bell, James Higgins, Emma Sands, Boyang Li, Yang Chen, Jeremy Jeffries, Adam Foxall, Euan Chalmers (all S3); Freda Yang, Gemma Hards, Sam Graham, Sally Wright, Ashiel Stewart Young, Lynzie McGill (all S4).

Bronze: Jody Rae, Sam Astell, Kendra Wallace, William Stewart, Owen Powell, Kenneth Gow, Lisa Davidson, Simon Brown (all S3); Michael Heilbron, Steven Scott, Adam Brewer, Nichola Bell, Makaisha Wallace, Michael Lyle, Craig Fairnington, Douglas Sturrock, Graham Bell, Stuart Grant (all S4).

Daniel Hine and Catherine Zhang have qualified for the next round of the competition.