As part of the celebrations for National Pi Day, which took place on 14 March, Amherst School hosted a number of fun activities, including prizes for the tutor group who forms the best shape of π, and a staff pie eating competition!

Pi, or the Greek letter π, is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant; the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. For simplicity, Pi is often rounded to 3.14, but its digits go on forever. By taking part in Pi celebrations, Amherst pupils solidified their learning whilst having a whole lot of fun.

The first competition of the day saw the whole school battle it out in their houses to see who could form the shape of π as quickly as possible. Points were awarded for speed but also shape accuracy which saw Rosmini House scoop the winning slot.

By breaktime, excitement quickly mounted in the main hall as the school came together to witness staff members from each House going against each other in a Pie Eating Contest. The event took place in three rounds and saw reigning champion Mr Rees from Rosmini House crowned as the winner, having demonstrated some rather impressive pie-gobbling skills.

And no Pi Day is complete without a bit of problem-solving. Throughout the day, some staff members wore white t-shirts with digits of Pi on their backs. Pupils then had the day to write down the staff names in the correct order of Pi. Congratulations goes to Jonny York in Agnes House, who was the winner of this maths muddle.

In maths lessons, pupils were given the opportunity to show off their memorisation skills through a Pi recital. Three minutes and fourteen seconds were given to write down as many digits of Pi as they could remember. Parman K in Peter House was the overall winner, reciting an impressive 132 digits.

Zac Tudor, Teacher of Mathematics at Amherst School said: “National Pi Day is such an important day for us to celebrate at school. As well as providing an element of fun and competition throughout the day, it also allows for us to appreciate an integral mathematical phenomenon. It was lovely to see the whole school come together and collaborate in many fun activities throughout the day.”