Pi Day 2026

Last week we celebrated International Pi (π) Day, which is marked globally on March 14 (3/14). Although Glenaeon celebrated the occasion a little belatedly this year (as it fell on a weekend), it was fantastic to have so many students turn up to our annual Pi recitation event.

The Maths Room was filled with students from Year 7 to Year 12, and it’s great to see such interest in this really important irrational number. In simple terms, π is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. It is an irrational number, which means that in decimal form it goes on forever and its digits do not repeat a pattern. No doubt it is this elusive nature of π that fascinates students.

Some of our keenest students put their memory skills to the test, competing to recite as many decimal places as possible. Our reigning champion is Sophia B. (Yr 10), who recited π to an impressive 402 decimal places! Second place went to Raphello M-L. (Yr 10), who recited 129 decimal places, and third place to Dominic S. (Yr 10), with 80 decimal places. Many other students also gave it a go, and we acknowledge their efforts. Remarkably, NASA claims that just 15 decimal places are sufficient for the highest level of accuracy in their calculations, which really puts our students’ feats into perspective!

No competition would be complete without prizes. As with previous years, the awards were canteen vouchers: $31.41 for first place, $6.28 for second place, and $3.14 for third place. Due to inflationary pressures, it is likely that next year the value of the prizes will have to increase, but they will still, of course, be multiples of π!

It was a delight to see such strong participation in this event, and it shows how much our students care about mathematics, and π in particular!