Sir E Scott is top of the UK maths charts

Brain-boxes of Tarbert: The pupils celebrate their fantastic achievement.

Primary pupils at Sir E Scott School in Tarbert have proved that they are absolutely top of the class when it comes to maths, after winning a UK-wide competition in which they were challenged to answer 1,000 questions.

And to top it all their closest challengers were pupils from a prestigious private school in London where the fees are £6,000 a year. But they proved no match for the young Hearachs.

The National Sumdog Maths Competition is intended to be a fun way of getting primary pupils motivated and engaged with maths.

Sumdog was formed in 1994 as an extracurricular activity to help primary pupils, teachers and parents boost educational standards.

The winning pupis celebrate their fantastic achievement

Diana MacKinnon, who teaches the English medium class of 21 pupils at Sir E Scott, decided to enter her pupils into the competition. “We are absolutely staggered to have won,” she told the Gazette.

The pupils had to answer 1,000 questions on maths related to their level of ability.

Asked what it was that made them such maths prodigies , Diana said: “It was a real team effort. We got some great support. The parents were amazing, they were a great help, but also the auxiliary teaching staff here at Sir E Scott as well. Everyone just pulled together, and of course the pupils as well.”

Diana added: “I think what made it all the better was the school that was in second place was a fee-paying school in London with fees of £6k. So there was little us up in the islands beating them hands down. I think it’s great.”