This week our second and third year students travelled to Ardgillan Community College, Balbriggan to take on teams from Lusk, Balbriggan and Ardgillan in the annual Irish Maths Teachers Association (IMTA) Pi Quiz.

The Pi quiz is designed to test students' problem-solving abilities as well as their team work and cooperation skills. The competition requires teams of four students to solve a series of challenging questions within a tight 6-minute timeframe. The questions, although rooted in the Junior Cycle curriculum, are given an ingenious twist to push students to their limits and encourage creative problem-solving.

Our Pi Quiz teams began training in January and met twice a week during their lunch break to practice questions. The teams received great support and guidance from 6th year team maths members Michael Casserly, Chibuikem Onwumereh, and Nathan Thomas Chirayath.

Their teams' dedication and commitment paid off handsomely on Tuesday afternoon as the St Declan's students not only secured the first-place victory but also claimed the second and third positions. Even more impressive is our second-year students coming in third place outperforming third-year participants from other schools.

A special thanks to everyone involved at Ardgillan College for hosting the event and their hospitality on the day.

The winning St Declan's team will now advance to the National Finals, scheduled for 22 April 2023 in Portlaoise.

Many thanks to Ms Ahern and Mr Monaghan for all their work with the Maths teams and the support they offer students during the lunchtime Maths clinics. It is a huge bonus for all our students.