Tom Rainbow, AC for North Somerset, Devon (East) and Somerset
On June 18, around 100 Year 12 students from across Somerset and Devon attended a Higher Level Problem Solving Day at Bridgewater and Taunton College’s Taunton Campus. The day featured a mixture of a team competition and sessions on cross-curricular problem solving, how best to unlock problems in the various mathematics university admission tests (STEP, MAT and TMUA) and as well as a hands on session focused on the writing and presentation of solutions to a variety of mathematical problems.
The day included an inspirational plenary talk from Ben Sparks which aimed to guide students in what to do if they get stuck or struggle to find a way to unlock a problem. The event was brilliantly organised by Ione Crossley and thanks need to be extended to Taunton and Bridgwater College for providing the venue, Ben, Avril Steele and Phil Chaffe for running sessions and the teachers and students attending the day.