Grade 4 student Michael Nicolaou has been placed fourth in the world in the Mathletics championship, scoring a whopping total of 11,988 points.
Michael has been competing with other students around the world in mental arithmetic challenges on an online mathematics learning system called Mathletics.
This online system is part of Oakleigh Grammar’s mathematics program which allows teachers to assign tasks and monitor student progress over the course of the year.
Michael’s classroom teacher Tonia Tsalapataris has been impressed by the exceptional mathematical ability he displayed in class and his persistence in completing activities both in and out of school hours.
The exemplary student has also consistently scored in the top percentile of the population in the Numeracy Naplan Tests as well as other externally assessed tests.
“It is an incredible accomplishment and Oakleigh Grammar is extremely proud of him,” Mrs Tsalapataris said.
Michael, whose favourite and strongest topics in maths are algebra, square roots, prime and composite algorithms says he loves maths as he finds solving difficult problems challenging.
“I am happy with my Mathletics Achievement of reaching fourth in the world on the daily Mathletics Hall of Fame because it taught me that if you motivate yourself and push yourself you can achieve anything.
“My aim initially was to move onto the Grade 6 set of maths, not realising that I had placed 50 in the world, then I decided to work harder to get into the top 10 and I ended up fourth in the world and first in Australia. I want to try and beat that soon,” the young student concluded.
In his spare time, Michael enjoys playing the piano and making his own compositions, listening to music and learning Mandarin. He is also into rock climbing, Lego Mindstorms (robotic Lego) and Lego Technic.