Limehouse ‘braniacs’ bring down Poplar’s ‘shooting stars’ in Tower Hamlets Numbers challenge

Maths-mad ‘brainiac’ schoolchildren from Limehouse have toppled their ‘shooting star’ rivals down the road in Poplar to take this year’s Top School title in the fifth annual Number Partners challenge.

The two-hour grand final was won by the self-named ‘Brainiacs’ from Sir William Burrough Primary in Salmon Lane, toppling the ‘Three Shooting Stars’ from Poplar’s Woolmore Primary into second place who had won the contest last year.

A record 66 teams from Tower Hamlets primary schools competed in this year’s Tower Hamlets Education Business Number Partners contest, with just eight teams reaching the fiercely competitive finals.

All the finalists are being taken on a trip to Brighton’s University of Sussex to find out what it’s like to be a university student outside London and how maths is applied in all subjects.

“It’s about getting out there and using maths and knowing its value,” William Burroughs’ teacher Anthony Wilson explained.

“The opportunity to visit a university makes a possibility of higher education feel more within the grasp of these children.”

His pupils showed good teamwork, correcting and working out backup calculations for each other.

The Number Partners programme helps children up to age 11 with confidence and motivation in numeracy. It pairs business volunteers with pupils for half-an-hour a week to play maths games, which brings the youngsters into contact with role models from the world of work.

Andrea Day, from Alesco Risk Management global insurance brokers in The City where this year’s finals were held on May 25, said: “Problem-solving though teamwork is an important skill in life for learning, which creates a future for themselves developing these skills.”

The pupils and business volunteers form teams to complete three rounds of stretching maths challenges, using problem-solving, logic and teamwork. They learn more, with numeracy seen as a critical life skill.