Hi everyone! I’m one of the five Year 5 pupils who had the amazing chance to represent our school in the Wondermaths Challenge Heats Round yesterday—and I’m so excited to share our experience with you!

This year, 80 schools from across London took part in the competition, with seven heats happening throughout the week. Only the winning school from each heat is guaranteed a place in the finals—and we’re thrilled to say we came 1st in our heat and qualified!

Our journey started all the way back in November, when 25 of us from Years 4 and 5 began training. After an in-school tournament in March, five of us—Hani (5G), Habibah (5G), Aaron (5ST), Musa (5M), and Pelumi (5K)—were chosen to be on the final team. We’ve been going to Maths Club twice a week and practising every day at home, learning seven different and very tricky games to get ready.

We were trained by our teacher, Mr Gorsia, and had some amazing help from last year’s Wondermaths Champions—Antonia M (5G), Sofia (5G), Tajae (6B), and Abdul (6O). They became our coaches this year and gave up their time after school to help us. Some of them even rearranged their own plans just to support and encourage us. Their help made a huge difference, and we can’t thank them enough!

The competition itself was tough—we had to use all our strategies and quick thinking to compete against 12 other schools. After two and a half intense hours, the results came in: we won our heat! We think we scored 152 out of 200 in the Shapes Round and 184 out of 200 in the 24 Game Round, although final scores are still being confirmed.

This is the sixth year in a row our school has made it to the Wondermaths Finals, and we’re proud to keep the streak going. Thank you to everyone who supported us—we’ll do our best in the finals this July!

Written by Pelumi 5K