Maths in Motion is an after-school activity where children get together every week to design and programme a race car. Extensive amounts of mathematical operations go into every feature of a race. The children have to work in groups to measure the angles and lengths of every straight and bend to decide what the safest maximum speed their car can approach these obstacles. The track distance and fuel is calculated, and their engine is tweaked to achieve the engine’s potential before the car is entered into the race.

Jackie, Evie, Tatenda and Daisy entered and got through the regional and national championships to qualify for the Maths in Motion World Finals. The finals consist of schools from all over the world, including China and Australia. After a very successful competition so far, the children arrived at the Riverside and connected to their computers to go live with all of the other world-wide competitors. The top secret track details were revealed and the team got to work, all the time under strict conditions which were being monitored live through a webcam.  After an hour and a half, their time was up and they entered their car into its final race. Unfortunately, one minor calculation error caused the car to run out of fuel halfway through the race. Despite this, the team still finished 11^th in the world out of all primary schools – an outstanding accomplishment.

The way these children worked together was an incredible feat in itself. To watch them work together as part of a team, allocate work, adapt to situations, make important decisions and continue to have such a smile on their face (despite being under so much pressure) whilst doing so was incredible. It is no surprise to see why such brilliant, hard-working children are competing with secondary schools all over the world when it comes to performing in this competition.

Congratulations children!