Tobias adds to success

Tobias Devereux takes time to enjoy being a kid again after achieving NCEA level 1 maths with...
Tobias Devereux takes time to enjoy being a kid again after achieving NCEA level 1 maths with excellence endorsements. Photo by Stephen Jaquiery.
Tobias Devereux has done it again.

The 10-year-old mathematics whizz has astounded his teachers and friends by achieving NCEA level 1 maths with excellence endorsements.

In layman's terms, he has achieved the academic feat five years before he is due to officially start the course.

A New Zealand Qualifications Authority spokeswoman said the achievement was very rare. Only nine 10-year-old pupils across the country sat NCEA level 1 examinations last year.

By far the majority of NCEA pupils were aged over 14 when they sat their examinations, she said.

During his year 6 at Kaikorai Primary School last year, Tobias spent four hours a week at Kavanagh College, studying maths with 16-year-olds.

He has already impressed educators by outdoing his fellow Kavanagh College classmates and finishing top of the year 11 maths class last year.

The success was just one of his many achievements in the past 12 months.

He finished in the top 0.3% of the 2014 Australian Maths Competition, was in the top 100 year 9 pupils in the 2014 New Zealand Junior Mathematics Competition, achieved 24/25 in the 2014 Problem Challenge, achieved high distinction (top 1%) in the 2014 International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) maths and science examinations, distinction in the 2014 ICAS English (top 2%), ICAS spelling (top 3%), ICAS computer skills (top 5%), honours in grade 3 jazz dance exam, grade 4 ballet exam and level 4 hip-hop exam. Tobias has been taking a break from all things mathematical during the summer holidays.

He has been enjoying being a kid again, playing football, riding his bike, swimming and tramping in the Catlins.

''I haven't done anything related to maths over the holidays,'' he said.

''I've worked pretty hard. I think I deserve a break,'' Tobias said.

He was pretty nervous about checking his results when they were released on Wednesday.

He had set the bar high for himself and was relieved when he realised he had gained passes in all his papers with Es - excellence endorsements.

Why is he so good at maths? Nobody knows. Even Tobias says he is not exactly sure why.

''I'm just really interested in numbers.

''My brain seems to work much faster when I'm learning maths.''

He had shown an aptitude for mathematics from an early age, and when his primary teachers could no longer provide maths education for him, his parents provided a maths tutor and then enrolled him in maths classes at Kavanagh to continue his education.

Kavanagh College principal Tracy O'Brien said having primary school pupils learning at such an accelerated level was rare.

Tobias was showing signs of becoming a ''very promising scholar'', particularly with his maths.

This year, Tobias plans to study full-time at Kavanagh College as a year 7 pupil, and is looking forward to studying NCEA level 2 maths, which he hopes to top again.

In the long term, he has aspirations of studying computer sciences at university, with a view to becoming a programmer.

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

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