Proudly supported by
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AFG Primary Interschool Numero® Challenge
DATES FOR 2024 COMPETITIONS
Geraldton, Esperance & Kalgoorlie heats to be held during weeks 8 & 9 of Term 3 2024 as follows:
Geraldton 1 – Monday 2nd September, Geraldton 2 – Tuesday 3rd September, Esperance – Friday 6th September, Kalgoorlie – Monday 9th September.
Perth & Bunbury heat dates are in Term 4 2024 as follows:
Bunbury – Monday 14th October, Northern – Wednesday 16th October, South Eastern – Friday 18th October, Southern – Monday 21st October, Coastal – Wednesday 23rd October, Central – Friday 25th October, City – Monday 28th October, Riverside – Wednesday 30th October, North Western – Thursday 31st October, Grand Final – Thursday 7th November.
Click here to register now for 2024!
Please get in contact with [email protected] for any enquiries as to the regions in which heats are held.
These are subject to change dependent on registrations
Competition Information – Please read before registration!
Teams: We guarantee to accept 2 teams per school, however schools can register for up to 4 teams if space allows. Once all registered schools are allocated their 2 teams each, the extra teams are then offered on a first in best dressed basis. Therefore, if you want more than two teams, early registration is recommended. Team numbers are not confirmed until after registration has closed at the end of week 9, term 2 (Friday 14th June 2024).
Heats/Venues: Where possible, first preferences are given, but cannot be guaranteed. Placement in heats is dependent on registration numbers and proximity to the hosting venues. Please always check alternative dates of heats – just in case! Please also consider being a host school, as we would love to go to as many different schools as possible. (If there is a date you definitely can’t attend, please feel free to add this information in the ‘comments’ section.)
There is also the possibility of heat venue amendments, again depending on location of registrations. If you have queries on the best heats for your school, please get in touch via email ([email protected]) for advice.
Registration Fee: There is a nominal registration fee of $60 per school, regardless of the number of teams entered in the event. An invoice for this fee will be issued once registration has been recorded and is due and payable within 4 weeks of the invoice date. Non-payment by the due date will mean the registration for your school will drop to the bottom of the registration order. This fee is non-refundable. This payment must be paid for your school to compete (non-payment = non-compete).
Confirmation: On receipt of your registration, you will receive a short “acknowledgement of registration” email within 48-72 hours. Official confirmation of team numbers allocated, heat, date, venue, etc will be emailed to you following close of registrations. You can expect this email by the end of week 11, term 2. If you haven’t received either of these emails by the above deadlines, please get in touch with [email protected] immediately, or phone 0409 082 291.
Background of Competition
This is a competition that has been running in Western Australian primary schools since 1998. It began with two divisions of 18 teams playing in qualification rounds before a final, and has steadily grown in numbers. In 2005, there were four qualifying rounds, and in 2006, due to increasing interest from country areas, one of the qualifying rounds was held at Geraldton, from which three teams qualified to compete at the final in Perth.
A Geraldton heat occurred again in 2007 (with 18 teams), while a qualifying heat was held at Esperance (with 12 teams), from which one team won a place in the final. The year 2008 saw this support for Numero® increase, with five qualifying heats, one each in Geraldton and Esperance, and three in Perth.
In 2009, the competition grew to include four Perth heats and two country heats, and in 2010 grew again to five Perth heats and three country heats (including Bunbury for the first time).
2011 saw the AFG Interschool Numero® Challenge continue to grow with ten heats, four in the country and six in Perth. Geraldton, Esperance and Bunbury continued, with the addition of a heat in Manjimup, in the Warren-Blackwood region. 2012 has continued on with more schools participating in the existing ten heats. In 2013 the Challenge grew yet again, with a fifth heat in the country (a second Bunbury heat) and a seventh heat in the metropolitan area. This has altered slightly in recent years, with every year having 12 heats but the disbursement being slightly different each year depending on registrations. Since 2019 there has been 4 regional heats and 8 metropolitan heats.
2023 saw the addition of a Kalgoorlie heat, a completely new region for this event. This brings the make-up of heats to 5 regional heats (Geraldton – 2 heats, Esperance – 1 heat, Kalgoorlie – 1 heat, Bunbury – 1 heat) and 8 metropolitan heats. This will continue in 2024.
Teams compete for generous book prizes, at both heats and finals, while the winning teams in the final also win cash prizes for their school of $1000, $500 and $250 respectively.s
AFG (Australian Finance Group)
Like Numero®, AFG originated here in WA, and in fact, the Interschool Numero® Challenge is just one year younger than AFG. However, both AFG and Numero® have grown far beyond the boundaries of their state of origin. Numero® has spread not only throughout English-speaking countries (including the UK, Ireland, New Zealand, USA and Canada), but also through SE Asia, Japan and Korea.
Established in 1994, AFG has grown to become one of Australia’s largest mortgage broking groups and leaders in financial solutions. With 3,000+ mortgage brokers around Australia, AFG is one of the largest mortgage provider companies in the country. AFG brokers have the ability to offer their customers a choice of over 4,250+ finance products from more than 55 of Australia’s lenders. Each month AFG brokers help more than 7,500 Australians get the right loan for their home.
Numero is honoured and proud to have developed this association with AFG, and in 2024 will have had their support through sponsorship for eighteen years. It is thanks to AFG that schools compete for prizes at both heats and finals, with generous cash prizes awarded to the top three schools in the final. 2010 began the awarding of extra cash prizes, with the first placed school winning $1000, second place $500 and third place $250.
Edwina Forward Engraving
Since the inception of this competition in 1998, Edwina Forward Engraving (EFE) has provided all our trophies without charge. In 2007, they provided a new perennial shield, as well as engraved medallions for the winning team, to mark the 10th anniversary of the competition. This occurred again in 2022, with a new perennial shield and medallions to mark our 25th anniversary! EFE have been an amazing supporter of Numero®, and we truly appreciate this continuing association.
The AFG Interschool Numero® Challenge 2023
The 26th year of the AFG Interschool Numero® Challenge welcomed more participating schools than ever before, as Numero® continues to grow throughout WA. With a competition that has changed as required, and maintained some of the significant modifications made through COVID, we are thrilled that the competition really hasn’t missed a beat and is bigger and better than ever! A big thank you to all schools for their continued support – together we bring Numero, and therefore great mental math teaching, to our students.
The thirteen heat winners for 2023 (in alphabetical order): Allendale Noxious Numbers, Boulder A Team, Bunbury Fabulous Fractions, Carey Baptist Wild Cards, Castletown Card Queenz, Lake Gwelup 4 x 4s, Mandurah Baptist Oremun, North Harrisdale Shining Stars, St Lawrence’s Prisoners of Mathskaban, St Stephen’s Deafening Silence, Sutherland Dianella Just Cleared the Centre, Wattle Grove Equalisers and Willetton Warriors.
The remaining six places in the final went to the next highest scoring teams (in alphabetical order): Allendale Dividing Devils, Castletown Mathematical Marvels, Mt Tarcoola Mathematicians, Sutherland Dianella 4th Match, West Leeming Smooth Operations and Willetton Wild Cards.
(Note that we had a 19 team final in 2023 due to a tie for the 5th qualifying position. We don’t believe in countbacks and having children miss out!! It will of course return to an 18 team even in 2024.)
Official Championship Photo 2023
Left to right: Mrs Paula McMahon, Executive Officer, The Mathematical Association of Western Australia (MAWA), Mr Mike Ellis, State Manager (WA), Campion Education; Mr Scott Chandler, Business Relationship Manager, Homes & Commercial Loans, Australian Finance Group (AFG); West Leeming Smooth Operations; Mrs Julie Richards, Director, Independent Education & Training (IET); and Mr Stuart Percival, Assistant Executive Director, Service Delivery, Statewide Services, WA Department of Education.
Champions 2023
(1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively)
Winners: West Leeming Primary School (Smooth Operations)
2nd Place: Castletown Primary School (Mathematical Marvels)
3rd Place: St Lawrence Catholic Primary School (Prisoners of Mathskaban)
What an achievement for West Leeming Primary School (Smooth Operations). 2023 was only their second time in the event and their first qualification into the final. They didn’t even win their heat and had to qualify on scores. This proves our theory that the Grand Final is a clean slate and any team that makes it, has every chance of winning!
Second place went to Castletown Primary School (Mathematical Marvels) and third to St Lawrence Catholic Primary School (Prisoners of Mathskaban) – equalling their 2022 result.
All our schools are working hard to improve not just their maths, but specifically their Numero® skills and speed. This is obvious in the results we continue to see each year, with scores getting higher and margins getting closer. This year there was only 38 points between 1st and 6th positions. Many schools missed out on places by a point (1 point between 3rd and 4th, 1 point between 7th and 8th, and again between 8th and 9th)!
We need to acknowledge a balancing of metro and regional schools as this year the top six contained three metro schools and three regional schools. This is great for our competition, as we love to see the honours shared between schools and regions. This competition is alive and well!
The next positions went to: 4th – Willetton Primary School (Wild Cards), 5th – North Harrisdale Primary School (Shining Stars), 6th – Allendale Primary School (Noxious Numbers).
This year’s Numero® final was held at North Harrisdale Primary School, and we truly appreciate all the hard work involved.
VIP Presenters: Our special guest on the day was Mr Scott Chandler, Business Relationship Manager, Homes & Commercial Loans, Australian Finance Group (AFG), who was the sponsor of the event for the seventeenth year in succession.
Scott presented the prizes for position winners, as well as the trophies to our winning team from West Leeming Primary School. We are extremely grateful for the ongoing support of AFG and look forward to their continued association with Numero® in WA.
Our other special guests included Mr Stuart Percival, Assistant Executive Director, Service Delivery, Statewide Services, WA Department of Education; Mr Mike Ellis, State Manager (WA), Campion Education and Mrs Paula McMahon, Executive Officer, The Mathematical Association of Western Australia (MAWA).
Apologies: Ms Ella Dachs, Chief Executive Officer, Alzheimer’s WA and Mr Warren Harding, Chairman, Alzheimer’s WA.
AFG Official Photo: Mr Scott Chandler (AFG) with the winners, West Leeming Primary School (Smooth Operations)