Nearly 400 of the State’s best young mathematicians from over 43 schools took part in the Western Australian Junior Mathematics Olympiad (WAJO) at The University of Western Australia (UWA) on Saturday, 5 November.

Students from Years 7, 8 and 9 tackled challenging mathematical problems individually and in teams, in a bid to win prizes to the value of almost $4,000.

Winthrop Professor Cheryl Praeger, from UWA’s School of Mathematics and Statistics and Chair of the Olympiad organising committee was pleased to see 14 Year 7 students take part in this year’s WAJO.

“Traditionally, the WAJO is open to Year 8 and 9 students, so I was delighted to see some Year 7 students having a go. Two of these bright sparks actually won individual prizes, and a Year 7 team from Christ Church Grammar School won the David McDougall Award for Excellence for the best performing Year 7 or Year 8 team. This is truly exceptional,” Professor Praeger said.

The Jack Bana Award for Excellence for the most outstanding team performance was awarded to a Year 9 team from Christ Church Grammar School.

The Honourable Dr Elizabeth Constable, Minister for Education in Western Australia, was amongst the valuable prize sponsors, sponsoring and presenting two awards for excellence. The Minister for Education’s Award for Excellence was awarded to Hyeonkyoo (Henry) Yoo from Perth Modern School and The Minister for Education’s Excellence Award for the best performance by a team from a public school also went to Perth Modern School.

Other sponsors of the WAJO included: UWA’s School of Mathematics and Statistics, the Mathematics Association of WA, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, Data Analysis Australia, Association of Independent Schools of WA, Parents and Friends’ Federation of WA, and the New Edition Bookshop.

This year the Western Australian Mathematics Olympiads Committee (WAMOC) presented three special awards to students with exceptional performances in all other state, national and international competitions and Olympiads during the year, in addition to the WAJO awards.

Angel Yu from Perth Modern School was awarded the Phill Schultz Prize for his outstanding performance in all mathematics activities in 2011 – in particular, Angel represented Australia at the International Mathematics Olympiad, held in Amsterdam, winning a Bronze Medal; and Andrew Yang from Rossmoyne SHS and Alexander Chua from Christ Church Grammar School received the WAMOC Award for Excellence for their very high performance in mathematics competitions and Olympiads leading to invitations to the School of Excellence (a training school for the International Mathematics Olympiad).

The top performing students in the WAJO will be invited to join the UWA Academy for Young Mathematicians.

FULL AWARD DETAILS

Individual prizes

Individual Merit Prizes
These prizes are awarded to individual students with a very high performance.

• Samuel Alsop, Frederick Irwin Anglican School
• Nicholas Lim, Christ Church Grammar School
• Benjamin Chia, All Saints’ College
• Ivan Zelich, Anglican Church Grammar School (Brisbane, Queensland)
• Riley Tan, Hale School
• Audrey Lee, Perth Modern School
• James Arcus, Perth Modern School
• Mathew Thomas, CBC Fremantle
• Terry Pham, Christ Church Grammar School
• Nicholas Pizzino, Christ Church Grammar School

Individual Special Prizes

• PPFWA Encouragement Merit Prize: Jason Dong, Trinity College
• The WAMOC Special Award: Keeva Brooks, Australind SHS
• The New Edition Bookshop Excellence Award: Haseeb Riaz, Hale School
• Data Analysis Awards for Excellence: Ananthakrishnan Koloth, Christ Church Grammar School; Phillip Cheng, Perth Modern School

Students with perfect scores

• Independent School Association Excellence Awards: Jonathan Pang, Hale School
• Minister for Education’s Awards for Excellence: Hyeonkyoo (Henry) Yoo, Perth Modern School
• Curtin University Award for Excellence: Brendon Wright, Christ Church Grammar School
• University of Western Australian Award for Excellence: Tristan Taylor, Frederick Irwin Anglican School

Team prizes

Merit Prizes

• Rossmoyne SHS Team 1
• Hale School Team 3
• Christ Church Grammar School Team 2
• Hale School Team 1

Special Prizes

• PFFWA Team Award for the best performing team from a Catholic school: CBC Fremantle Team 1
• WA MOC Team Award for Excellence for the best performance by a non-metropolitan school: Frederick Irwin Anglican School Team 1
• Mathematics and Statistics, Murdoch University Award for Excellence: Perth Modern School Team 3
• Independent Schools Association Team Excellence Award: Hale School Team 2
• Minister for Education’s Excellence Award for the best performance by a team from a public school: Perth Modern School Team 5

First Prizes

• The David McDougall Award for Excellence for the best performing Year 7 or Year 8 team, sponsored by ECU: Christ Church Grammar School Team 7 (a Year 7 team)
• The Jack Bana Award for Excellence for the most outstanding team performance, sponsored by MAWA: Christ Church Grammar School Team 1 (a Year 9 team)

Media references

Tracey Godwin (UWA Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics)    (+61 8)  6488 2260
Winthrop Professor Cheryl Praeger (UWA Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics    (+61 8)  6488 3344