Tag: British Youth International College

Graduation day as 10 Edinburgh youngsters complete ‘mini PhD’ in abacus

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar presents trophies and certificates at education ceremony

Twenty-three of the brightest minds in the UK – ten of them from Edinburgh – were honoured in a ceremony in Glasgow last month (16th September) to celebrate their completion of a leading abacus training programme.

The War Memorial Hall in Bishopbriggs, packed with family and friends of the winners, rung with heartfelt applause when Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar MSP presented each of the children with their awards.

The celebration was organised by computer scientist and educator, Dr Rashmi Mantri, head of The British Youth International College (BYITC), who set up the organisation in 2015 after teaching her own son, Druhv, maths using a counting tool that has been used for millennia – the abacus.

Now BYITC and its Supermaths programme is the leading abacus training provider in the UK and has also developed the world’s first games-based abacus maths application.

“Clearing all levels of Abacus is no walk in the park as it requires a lot of hard work and typically takes students 3 – 4 years of practice to complete this. It really is like a mini PhD for these incredible young people,” said Dr Mantri.

“As well as enabling people to do mental arithmetic in super fast time, the abacus is a highly effective brain development tool for concentration. The touch and feel nature of it makes it very popular for children with dyslexia also for example.

“With Maths Week Scotland fast approaching at the end of the month, we want parents and teachers to know that the abacus is a tried and tested tool to improve mental maths. Our annual maths competition called an Olympiad, is launching on 25th September – it is very popular as it is open to anyone to enter and is free of charge.”

Of the 23 winners at the graduation ceremony, 10 were from Edinburgh (listed below), 7 from Glasgow, 1 from Falkirk and the remainder from across England and Wales.

·       Mishika Pandey, 10, who attends East Craigs Primary School

·       Shariva Lasure, 12, who attends Craigmount High School

·       Aaliyah Deepak Krishnaveni, 11, who attends Tynecastle High School

·       Gauri Shrikande, 12, who attends Craigmount High School

·       Aarush Gosain, 12, who attends Rosehill High School, Wallyford

·       Taran Vighnesh, 9, who attends Kirkliston Primary School

·       Shreya Navratna, 15, who attends Tynecastle High School

·       Rishon Ashley, 14, who attends Tynecastle High School

·       Santiago Prieto, 12, who attends St Augustine’s RC High School

·       Tanush Venkat, 11, Cramond Primary School

The parents of Rishon, 14, from Edinburgh, said: “As parents of the millennials, we stand before a crowd of highly intelligent and capable future leaders – today’s kids.

“Abacus classes run by BYITC are really effective and have made it worth these the kids’ time in preparing, attending and undertaking homework assignments provided by able teachers and coordinators.

“We are humbled by the extent and quality of their input and happy to be part of this fitting recognitions.”

Leader of the Scottish Labour Party and Member of the Scottish Parliament, Anas Sarwar, said: “It is a great privilege to meet, and present completion certificates, to all of these high-achieving young people.

“Highlighting the outstanding achievements of young people across the United Kingdom is vital for their own development and the future of our nation, and I congratulate each and every one of them on their awards.

“I would like to congratulate the work of Dr Rashmi Mantri and the BYITC team in continuing to develop and teach the next generation of STEM superstars.”

To find out more about the awards and how to sign up for the free maths competition, visit the BYITC website.

Online Coding Summer Camps for kids

  • School’s out – but fun learning continues through coding summer camps
  • Virtual workshops for STEM stars of the future

A series of virtual summer camps to help children learn computer coding, game development and programming skills has been launched by Glasgow-based British Youth International College (BYITC).

Children aged 8 to 14 can sign up to the camps, which are hosted online, so are accessible to young people in any location.

The 2023 BYITC Summer Coding Camps last three days, with the first camp focusing on games and running on the 24th, 25th and 26th July.

The second Coding Camp takes place on 31st July, 1st and 2nd of August and will focus on Python – a popular programming language that can be used for a wide variety of applications, including building websites and creating software.

BYITC founder Dr Rashmi Mantri said: “The school holidays are the perfect time to combine fun with fascination – and our Summer Coding Camps will have plenty of both!

“The idea is to introduce young people to the world of coding and games development, while also powering their imaginations with a combination of hands-on activities, interactive workshops and project-based learning.”

Young people taking part in the BYITC Summer Coding Camps will use apps that introduce kids to coding, such as Scratch and Thunkable,9 and game creation platforms such as Roblox. Python programming topics will also be incorporated.

“We’ve carefully crafted the camp curriculum to provide a holistic learning experience that encompasses coding concepts, game design principles and the practical application of programming skills,” Dr Mantri said.

Each day of the Summer Coding Camps will run from 11am to 1pm and then 2pm to 4pm.

Dr Mantri, who has a PhD in Computer Science, founded BYITC in 2015 to teach maths using a counting tool that has been used for millennia – the abacus. BYITC has since expanded into online courses in English, programming and cyber security and runs 10 franchises globally – including Dubai and Sri Lanka.

Supermaths is BYITC’s most popular teaching programme and offers a mix of weekly teacher-led abacus maths classes and online tutorials.                                                                                                                                                             Thought to have been first used by the Babylonians, an ancient Middle Eastern civilization, as early as 2,400 BC, the abacus is known to be highly effective at training the brain to make mathematical calculations involving huge numbers.

For more information on the 2023 BYITC Summer Coding Camps visit:

https://www.byitc.org/glasgow-summer-games-dev-boot-camp-classes/

For more information, please contact Dr Rashmi Mantri, Managing Director at British

Youth International College, 267 Colston Road, Glasgow, G64 2BD.

Email: rashmi@byitc.org

Phone: 07423 215 162

www.byitc.org

www.supermaths.co.uk

INSPIRE 2023: German Doner Kebab partners with awards show honouring youth achievement

German Doner Kebab (GDK) is partnering with the British Youth International College (BYITC) Inspire awards to honour young people who have exceeded beyond expectations.

The BYITC Inspire awards 2023 are set to take place on June 6 at the Scottish Parliament. The event celebrates diversity and inclusion and aims to empower individuals with curiosity, motivation, confidence, and enthusiasm.

GDK is honoured to be powering the awards show through the Boss Box. The fast-casual brand is revolutionising the kebab in the UK, bringing a fresh, high-quality taste sensation that has made it the number one spot to enjoy a kebab.

Freshly prepared in front of customers, the game-changing kebabs combine premium, lean meats imported from Germany and fresh, locally sourced vegetables, served in its world-famous toasted waffle bread with unique signature sauces which are blended in-store daily.

GDK CEO Simon Wallis said: “We cannot wait for the awards show and getting the chance to recognise dozens of talented young people who have thrived and reached their potential.

“At GDK, we are focused on supporting youth culture and championing youngsters whenever we can. For example, in our recent collaboration with Fast & Furious film ‘Fast X’, we worked with Ollie the Car Kid, to give him the opportunity of a lifetime to interview stars on the red carpet.

“These similarly inspiring young individuals should be extremely proud of themselves and we look forward to engaging with them and providing support to such a valuable social initiative.”

The Inspire Awards 2023 will see a variety of young people across the nation aged between 5-17 honoured across a number of categories. These include; the environment, language and literature, science, technology, engineering and mathematics, sports, cultural and social, media, art and creativity, academics and all rounder.

BYITC Founder Dr Rashmi Mantri said: ”From Rubik’s Cube to reading, cricket to coding, singing to science, environmentalism to engineering, influencing to innovating – we have so many winning categories that we are confident there is something for every young person.

“We want to celebrate diversity and inclusion and recognise young people from all backgrounds who are making all of our futures’ brighter by learning and excelling in whatever they choose to do.”