Standard Bank - Matific Maths Olympiad 2022
13 December 2022
Matific, an educational service provider specialising in digital Mathematics content, recently hosted their very first Standard Bank and Matific Maths Olympiad in South Africa.
A total of 138 schools and 28 000 learners participated in the week-long event.
The school that won has an incredible story! Nolungile Primary School in Khayelitsha entered a team of 64 learners who had to share 18 computers in the school’s computer lab. The school rotated their learners and teachers for 12 hours a day for the duration of the week. They jumped from 15th place into the top three in the last days of the Olympiad.
Nolungile worked till the final countdown just before midnight on Friday, 4 November 2022 and battled it out till the very last minute of the Olympiad with other schools on the leaderboard.
Natalia Kavalenia of Matific applauded the school for their very deserving win and added that they were inspired by the school’s efforts and sheer determination to achieve such impressive results.
Ms Somagaca, the Principal of Nolungile Primary School, said their performance in the competition reflected the teacher strategies and collaboration with parents. “This is a clear definition of teamwork as all departments at the school were involved and presented a united front at all times throughout the competition.”
Somagaca said last year, the school management team agreed to go back to basics and focus on counting, mental maths, timetables, random mock tests, etc. This strategy was applied to Grades 1-7. “After the execution of the plan, we could see that we are heading in the right direction. The Standard Bank - Matific Maths Olympiad gave us an opportunity to put these skills into practice.
“What we saw during the practice week was encouraging. Learners enjoyed solving the problems on Matific and they were excited about it. They kept pushing us until the last minute.”
A small Afrikaans farm school in Limpopo finished in second place and in third place was another winner from the Western Cape, Laerskool Bertie Barnard.
Kavalenia said; “We couldn't be happier for these schools, but the real win comes from teacher comments like this: ‘Thanks for the fantastic programme. Learners who were never very keen on maths, were teaching others like pros.’”
Kavalenia added that it has been a wonderful turnout in terms of Olympiad participation, and they were proud of all the schools and their efforts.