Member Article

Padworth College Student Excels in National Maths Challenge

Jungi Park, a South Korean student from independent senior school Padworth College, has triumphed to the top 3% of a national Senior Maths Challenge in which 82,000 pupils took part countrywide. Padworth College has global citizenship and equality at the heart of its values and is home to over 30 different nationalities of students who appreciate the alternative methods of learning and teaching offered by the school.

The Maths Challenge, which is highly regarded by educationalists throughout the country, is a competition for students in Year 12 and Year 13 whereby the top percentage of participants receive a certificate in either Gold, Silver or Bronze to reflect their achievements. Out of the 82,000 contributors, 4,600 leading students are invited on to partake in a follow-on competition, which tests levels of talent far beyond the classroom curriculum.

Despite only being in Year 12 Jungi was invited to take part in the Senior Kangaroo, the follow-on competition to the Senior Maths Challenge, where he was ranked in the top 25% of all participants. Although Jungi is not a native speaker he has excelled in his A level subject choices, which include Mathematics and Higher Mathematics, due to his creative and challenging way of thinking which has been nurtured in Padworth’s individualistic environment.

The competition is designed to encourage mathematical reasoning, precision of thought, and fluency in using mathematical techniques to solve problems. James Fitzpatrick, who teaches Mathematics at Padworth College, believes that Jungi’s success can be attributed to his method of combining intuition with work ethics and intellectual capacity.

James Fitzpatrick has taught Mathematics at Padworth College for the past two years and encourages his students to use reasoning as well as relying on theory to learn the subject. Reflecting Padworth’s open and perceptive attitude towards learning, James says: “There is more than one way to reach to the result and that is why we encourage a variety of approaches and for students to work on their own initiative as well and be creative.”

The fact that Jungi is not fluent in English makes his success even more astounding. Padworth places strong value in teaching languages as part of the overall curriculum. Jungi has achieved something extraordinary due to his freedom to apply both Korean and English theories to his practice without being forced to follow strict structures in the classroom.

Padworth College takes enormous pride in being able to offer a global learning village to its students, which include individuals such as Jungi. It’s these core values that have been borne out in this triumph.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Padworth .