ST Kevin's Primary School is celebrating after pupils Paul Leonard and Daniel Zheng took first and second place in Ireland Rocks - a times tables competition run by Times Tables Rock Stars for Maths Week Ireland.
Ireland Rocks required children to answer as many multiplication and division questions as possible, to give their class and school the best chance of winning.
The competition was fierce with over 12 million questions answered collectively by nearly 18,000 pupils from more than 300 schools around the country.
St Kevin’s stats were astonishing. Mr Keogh’s Primary 7 class collectively answered 275,824 questions correctly, with Paul Leonard, the best performing pupil answering an outstanding 20,355 questions correctly in total and Daniel Zheng, the school's second-best performing pupil answering an amazing 16,376 in total.
St Kevin’s Principal, Miss Fiona Keegan, said: “Our pupils have excelled themselves throughout Ireland Rocks.
"Not only did they engage in some friendly competition but there were also definite improvements in their recall and speed as time went on.
"That's always been our goal - to make learning maths basics so fun that pupils give it their all.”
Ireland Rocks was open to schools across the island of Ireland who had either an active school subscription or an active school trial to Times Tables Rock Stars, an app and online learning platform created to engage children with learning of times tables and increase their confidence and proficiency in maths. During the current school year, more than 3 million children in over 100 countries play the game.
The development resulted from a need identified by the company's founder, Bruno Reddy, a maths teacher, who saw many pupils entering his school lacked basic skills in maths.
The system uses artificial intelligence to tailor the questioning and learning to the child, adapting to their progress and building their confidence. The animated rock theme and motivational reward system has captivated pupils, teachers and families alike, resulting in widespread success and a Queen's Award for Enterprise in Innovation in 2020.
