The education minister was a keen observer as thousands of school pupils around the country were put through their mathematical paces.
About 15,000 students, between the ages of 7 and 13, took part in the Times Tables Rock Stars Mathematics competition on Thursday morning.
The event consisted of two corresponding 30-minute questionnaires across the North and South islands, involving about 300 schools.
James Meager and Erica Stanford competing against each other and putting their maths skills to the test. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Education Minister Erica Stanford and South Island Minister James Meager watched competition proceedings at Christchurch's Somerfield Te Kura Wairepo.
School principal Meagan Kelly said her students were "very focused" ahead of the competition.
"This is the second Rock Star competition that we've done, so they're pretty keen, they're pretty well practised, and they do love it," she said.
"That sense of competition is really amazing, so they really enjoy that."
Students at Christchurch's Somerfield Te Kura Wairepo competing in the maths competition. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The UK-based competition has been touring the world.
Underlining the high-pressure nature of proceedings, the event was live-streamed over YouTube.
The times table competition was also rejuvenating old rote learning techniques, Kelly said.
"There is a bit of a revival in that we want them to have all of these facts locked into their brains, so it makes maths later on, a little bit easier for them as things get more complex."
Ten-year-old Haval said he was put to the ultimate test.
"I'm not at my best today. I'm usually 70 to 80 questions a minute, now I'm 40 to 50."
Other pupils RNZ spoke to explained the competition was both "exciting, challenging, and nerve-wracking".
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Stanford and Meager were later strapped to their devices, their math skills were put under scrutiny in the ultimate North-South battle, as several pupils watched on.
"We've got a South Island representative here in Minister James Meager, I'm representing the North Island. But maths is the winner on the day right," Stanford said.
It is understood Stanford earned bragging rights over her junior minister.
Although it was all fun and games on Thursday, problem-solving of a different kind has been needed by Stanford.
Eighteen errors were discovered in brand new ministry-funded maths resources.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Mistakes include incorrect sums, a wrong number labelled in te reo Māori, and incorrectly saying "triangles" instead of "rectangles" in an answer.
Speaking to reporters, Stanford defended the failure, explaining the sector had moved fast.
"There was a very small handful of errors found by keen-bean mathematicians, good on them," she said.
"These are existing resources and it was likely they were there for some time.
"Actually we've been responsive, receptive. We've gone out to the classrooms and the schools and said if you find anything we'll fix it immediately, which we have.
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