I first came across Kelsey when he came to my class one day to recite pi to a great number of decimal places. My pupils were so impressed. The next time I saw Kelsey performing he was solving a Rubik’s Cube on the stage in the Riverside Euphoria concert. I always associate Kelsey as someone who enjoyed Maths. I never taught Kelsey but I knew of his great talent for Maths from an early age. Kelsey was an outstanding Mathematician who gained first place in Northern Ireland in 2014 in A Level Mathematics. This is a huge achievement and requires great dedication and outstanding ability. Kelsey had it all. I have put together a few comments from some of his teachers: Read More

The Mathematics Department and year 8 pupils were delighted to support the NSPCC by taking part in NSPCC Number Day.

This proved to be a great way to make Maths fun! During lessons in the week 1st– 5th December, pupils attempted fun Maths challenges and we also ran lunchtime activities to mark the event. Parents didn’t escape either as the year 8s brought home a few Maths teasers to try with their families!

Pupil feedback was great and we hope to make Number Day an annual event!

Comments from year 8 pupils:

• “Although I didn’t win, I really enjoyed trying”
• “I really enjoyed NSPCC Number Day…you got to move around the classroom and work in pairs”
• “The questions really made us think”
• “I hope we do it again next year”
• ” I rate the day 11/10″

Our pupils have performed exceptionally well in
this competition which took place on 6th November – congratulations to all!

Certificates are awarded as follows:

• Thomas Hancock (Gold & Best in School) – Thomas has also been invited to compete in the next round of the competition – the Senior Kangaroo – on Friday 28th November.
• Scott Malcomson, Ashley Kane, Esther McCollum, Zara Loughridge (Silver)
• Cormac Cunningham-Bell (Bronze)

Well done to all participants!

A number of year 8, 9 and 10 boys enjoyed exercising their mental Maths skills whilst competing with their pals during lunchtime on Friday 5th December. They took part in a Countdown Numbers Game challenge to mark NSPCC Number Day. The boys had to try to find a target number using the 6 given numbers and any combination of +,-,x,÷.  Mrs Convery and Mrs McCrystal were very impressed with their speedy arithmetic and competitive spirit! Watch out for another one in the new year!

On Thursday 6th November ten of Dalriada’s Year 14 Mathematicians took part in the UK wide UKMT Senior Mathematics Challenge. Our pupils competed against over 100,000 students across the UK and tackled a series of 25 challenging, thought provoking problems. We are patiently awaiting the official results to see how they performed – no doubt superbly!! Thank you to all the participants!

Well done to the Dalriada Senior Maths Team who took third place in the fifth annual Mathematics competition at Queen’s University on 6th December. The team consisted of Megann Crawford, Emma Jones, Fraser McIlvenna and Kelsey McKenna.

There were over 100 A-Level Mathematics students from 26 schools throughout Northern Ireland. Teams battled their way through several rounds of tough (and sometimes terrifying!) questions set by The School of Mathematics and Physics. Mrs Rankin joined the team for the final rounds.

The final scores were extremely close, with Methodist College, Belfast winning first place just ahead of Belfast a Royal Academy and Dalriada. Our team each received Amazon vouchers and can be very proud of their achievement.

Over 50 Year 9 pupils took part in the LASCO Maths Challenge 2013. The pupils completed several Maths challenges and were able to raise money for LASCO at the same time. LASCO is a charity which raises funds for educational and medical projects in Latin America. These projects help improve the future for the street children in the area. Well done to all the pupils involved.