At the end of August, I went to Oxford University for six days to attend an UKMT Summer School for Girls. As we arrived we were put into groups for the week and shown around campus, before having dinner and an evening of problem solving, mathematical braiding and uno. Each day we walked to the Oxford maths institute where we had two sessions in the morning and two sessions in the afternoon. The morning sessions were on number theory and geometry. In number theory we looked at topics such as Euclid’s algorithm and the use of modulus to prove mathematical arguments. In geometry we looked at topics such as cyclic triangles and the centres of triangles. In the afternoon sessions we were introduced to a range of topics such as networks, the invariance principle, the pigeonhole principle and combinatorics. All the sessions were interesting and challenging, and they showed us problems and topics which we are unlikely to see in school. In the evening we had a range of evening activities such as bowling, a tour of Oxford and a talent show on the last night. I really enjoyed this experience as I met lots of new people, made new friends and got to explore a lot of challenging maths.
Ffion H, Year 11
