NAPLAN result counts in top score for maths whiz-kid

Maths teachers at this school in Brisbane’s southwest knew they had some talent in their midst, but just how much wasn’t revealed until the NAPLAN results came out.

Forest Lake State High School has a maths whiz-kid in its ranks.

Daniel, a Year 9 student, scored a rare 100 per cent result in the numeracy and spelling tests on this year’s NAPLAN.

Maths teacher Terry Grimberg said he had seen many Year 9 students achieve outstanding Band 10 results in the numeracy strand, but he had never before seen a student get all the questions correct.

The maths staffroom was abuzz with excitement when they received the news of Daniels’ impressive achievements, he said.

“This clearly demonstrates that Daniel’s amazing outcomes are authentic in nature and not the result of lucky guessing,” Mr Grimberg said.

School principal Denise Kostowski said: The ACARA preliminary results indicated only 6.3 per cent of Year 9 students in Australia managed get the final non-calculator question on the paper correct.

Daniel in class with maths teacher Terry Grimberg and Forest Lake State High School principal Denise Kostowski.

“This problem had to be determined via mental arithmetic, so it was not possible to guess the answer,” Ms Kostowski said.

The Australian Maths Trust has selected Daniel to take part in its new program digIT 2020.

He will be one of 60 secondary students across Queensland, Northern Territory and Northern NSW invited to take part.

The digIT 2020 program aims to inspire, encourage and increase student’s confidence and interest interest in using digital technologies.

Ms Kostowski said Daniel was a student with great potential.

“We look forward to seeing what the future has in store for him,” she said.

“This fabulous result is a credit to Daniel’s commitment to his studies and the quality of teaching in our school.”