Ri Saturday Maths Masterclasses

Our Maths Masterclasses are conducted in collaboration with The Royal Institution, an independent charity dedicated to connecting people with the world of science.

Our Aims

Over six Saturday morning sessions, we aim to inspire 60 Year 9 pupils from 10 local secondary schools by exploring the beauty and wonder of mathematics.

These classes are designed to cultivate a sense of enjoyment in the subject through in-depth investigations of topics beyond the standard curriculum. Volunteer mentors from Years 12 and 13 at Dulwich College work alongside College staff and external presenters to deliver these engaging Masterclasses.

Topics

Sessions from external presenters have included topics such as Mathematical Origami, which was beautifully linked to careers in product design and even the folding of solar panels on the James Webb Telescope; Magical Mathematics; and an exploration of algorithms, engaging participants with hands-on activities like moving frogs and multiplying numbers.

Experienced College staff have also delivered sessions on topics such as Permutations and Combinations, which encouraged systematic and strategic counting; Relativity, made accessible through practical activities involving clocks and string on spheres; and the Josephus problem, which introduced a historical problem that opened up the world of different number bases. In these sessions, students learned how to use Binary and saw how colors are stored on the internet using Hexadecimal.

 Participating Secondary Schools

• Bonus Pastor College
• Charter Bermondsey
• Charter East
• City Heights E-ACT Academy
• Elmgreen
• Forest Hill
• Harris Boys’ East Dulwich
• South Bank University Academy
• Sutton Grammar
• Sydenham