Buff Bay Primary Wins 2026 Portland Maths Quiz Competition
By: , May 18, 2026
Photo: Raymond Simpson
Winners of the Portland Primary Maths Quiz Competition, Buff Bay Primary, pose with their trophies and medals following the finals of the contest on May 7 at the Portland Social Development Commission parish office.
Photo: Raymond Simpson
Members of the Buff Bay Primary School team tackle a problem during the final of the Portland Primary Maths Quiz Competition on May 7.The Full Story
Buff Bay Primary School, in Portland, is winner of the 2026 Portland Maths Quiz Competition.
The four challengers from Buff Bay faced off against Norwich Primary School in a neck-and-neck battle, separated by just a few points in the end. The final, as well as the third-place playoff, took place at the Social Development Commission’s Portland Office on May 7.
It is Buff Bay Primary’s first time winning the competition. The champion quizzers, the second and third-place teams, their coaches, and other outstanding challengers were all feted with an array of trophies and exciting prizes from sponsors.
Buff Bay Primary’s Coach, Jody-Ann Thomas, told JIS News that it took “hard work and dedication” to claim the win.
Ms. Thomas said that the experience was not just a competitive one but also the contest provided several other benefits to the young participants.
“It also improved how they collaborate with each other and all of that. So, it’s not only just about writing down the answer. As the judges would have said, it is about thinking critically and with reasoning,” she explained.
Cluster-based Mathematics Specialist for Region 2, President of the Norwich Community Development Committee and an Organiser of the competition, Suzette Simpson McNeil, conveyed congratulations to the winning team.
“We are really happy for them [and] for all the teams that made it this far. It has been a long couple of weeks [and] it’s really a wonderful blessing to be here,” Mrs. Simpson McNeil said.
The competition was launched on February 6 with a total of 30 schools – the most entries ever received since it began in 2017 in the Port Antonio area.
“We thought that when we saw the numbers for mathematics for the region, we thought we should not just stick to Port Antonio, but just to enlarge it to the other communities in Portland,” Mrs. Simpson McNeil pointed out.
The 30 Primary-level institutions that took on the challenge hail from both Eastern and Western Portland. For next year, organisers are looking to extend the competition to include high schools.
Mrs. Simpson McNeil also informed that the quiz revealed areas in which students were having challenges with mathematics, and certain misconceptions.
“And what the teachers, and what we have identified to them is that they were not familiar with doing many reasoning tasks, and so we want to fix that. We’re going to continue this progression because coming out of the match, we met with the teachers in West Portland and they decided that they want to form a little group and to do some item writing, which is a plus,” the Maths Specialist said.
“The work continues because we’re going to be going into the schools, school by school, looking at the weaknesses. We want to meet with the teachers, let them know where their school is at and what intervention they can do in school and what we can do from this summer to going into the new school year because we want to fix it,” she added.
Social Development Commission (SDC) Parish Manager for Portland, Karl Coke, said: “We recognise that there’s a gap in mathematics right across the parish of Portland, so hosting a competition like this allows the Ministry of Education to identify those gaps and see where we can work towards fixing it going forward.”
The competition is implemented by the Portland SDC in partnership with the Norwich CDC and the Portland Parish Development Committee.
Mr. Coke said that in addition to expanding the Maths Quiz competition, the agency is looking to establish a public speaking and poster competition for schools in the parish.
He thanked the sponsors for their support of the Maths Quiz Competition, hailing the community spirit that was displayed.
These included Members of Parliament for Portland Western and Eastern, Hon. Daryl Vaz and Isat Buchanan; Mayor of Port Antonio, Paul Thompson; Jamaica Teachers’ Association Cooperative Credit Union; Bookzone; Anchovy Hardware; Ramtulla Supercentre; Essies Variety Store; Soshavel Variety Store; Bayview Eco Resort and Spa; DK Decorations and more; Portland Parish Development Committee; Boundbrook Tyre Shop; and the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission.
