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Adam's top class!
A NUMERICAL wizard from Clowne Heritage Community School has just sat his maths GCSE at the age of 12 – four years early.
Adam Goucher, 12, of Gray Street in Clowne, took the exam at the same time as 15 and 16 year olds across the country – and teachers now expect Adam to take his A-levels early, too.
Staff at the Clowne school have described Adam's talent as 'exceptional', and this is the first time anyone at the school has taken a GCSE in year seven.
"This is absolutely rare – very, very rare. I have been teaching for 30 years and I have never come across this," said headteacher Don Spencer.
"His achievement is phenomenal and we hope Adam will be taking his A-level in year nine."
Throughout his first year at Heritage, the youngster has had a special programme of work and one to one sessions with former head of maths Alan Laurie .
"We are very proud of him and he has come on in leaps and bounds. He lives and breathes maths," said head of maths Susan Parkes.
"He is outstanding at maths and languages and now we are a specialist college it will be easier for us to put on master classes for the gifted children."
Adam has Asperger's Syndrome, which is a mild form of autism.
"Despite the difficulties, he has had a very successful first year at Heritage. He is a star and a lovely little boy," said Mrs Parkes.
Adam also entered the UK Maths Challenge in April along with 250,000 other 12 and 13-year-olds across the country.
Following his success in the test, Adam was selected by invitation to take part in the Junior Maths Olympiad for which he received a certificate of distinction and gold medal as one of the top 50 entrants in the country
His dad, Peter Goucher, said he was proud of his son's achievements.
"We are both very proud of what he has done and we are grateful for what the school has done for him, especially Alan Laurie who encouraged Adam and had high expectations for him," said Peter Goucher.
"Adam takes it in his stride. He loves maths and has always been interested in it."
And the youngster himself said: "I was very pleased to finish in the top 50 out of 250,000 entrants for the national award. I am proud of that."
He added: "The GCSE was very easy – I am hoping I'll get an A-star."
And why does he love maths so much?
"I love it because it is logical and there is always a definite answer."
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Weather for Worksop
Sunday 05 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 1 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: West
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Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 4 C
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