New Machar School pupils top the leader board in Sumdog maths contest

New Machar School pupils are celebrating after scooping first prize in a challenging maths competition.

The P3H pupils had the winning score with 806 points to be crowned Sumdog Maths Champions.

They were among 105 classes entered from 29 schools across Aberdeenshire with 1,377 pupils taking part answering a whopping 485,801 questions.

Second place went to the P5-7 pupils at King Edward School in Banff with 647 points followed by P5 and P6 at Portlethen School gaining third and fourth place.

Sumdog is an online games-based adaptive learning platform which aims to improve numeracy skills in children aged 5-14 years old.

In the contest, pupils answer up to 1,000 questions, set at their own individual learning level, within the week and they are then ranked on a class and individual leader board by the number of correct answers.

In fifth place was P1-7 pupils at Forgue School, sixth was P1 and 2 at King Edward School. Seventh went to Big Class at Crudie School, P3, 4 and 5 at Skene School came in eighth, P3 at Rothienorman primary came ninth and in tenth place were P3 pupils at Portlethen.

New Machar School Head Teacher Brian Carle said: “We’re delighted to be using the platform to help pupils improve accuracy when answering mental maths questions. 

“Pupils really enjoy using the platform as it makes learning fun.” 

Head of New Business at Sumdog Tom Owen added: “It's been fantastic to see the enthusiasm and participation from Aberdeenshire students and staff in the recent Sumdog contest. 

“Having visited the winning class at New Machar in June, it was rewarding to see the positive impact the contest has had on their enjoyment of maths. 

“We're looking forward to supporting schools across the council in boosting pupil numeracy attainment next school year.”