Stijn won the Junior Olympiad last year. Not satisfied with the prospect of his own participation in the real thing this year, he personally trained his seven classmates from the fourth year in industrial sciences at the technical institute VTI Poperinge so they could accompany him. And when it came to the first round last month, they got through – the first time a whole class has ever qualified.

“Sometimes I let him give lessons because the class work for the fourth year is much too easy for him,” says his teacher Delphine Naessens.

Last year, the class entered en masse and three went through to the second round. Typically, Stijn used maths to address the problem. “After a probability analysis, I knew it would be possible for all eight of us to go through this year,” he says. “In the Christmas holidays, I put together a quiz as preparation, and it paid off.”

As you read this, Stijn is back at work. “I have another quiz ready for the holidays so that everyone can prepare, but it’s not going to be easy,” he says. “Of course I hope the whole class can go to the final, but for myself, I’m setting the bar a bit higher. I want to come home this year with the trophy.”

Stijn is the son of farmers in West Flanders who spotted his gift early on. “He already knew his tables at the age of four,” his mother says. “When he was little, before he went to sleep he would ask what 600 times 600 was. That comes as a surprise to a parent.”

But what is the attraction of maths? “The best thing about maths is that everything makes sense,” Stijn said. “Maths is pleasant – much more pleasant than football, for example, though I do that, too, from time to time.”

Says Naessens: “It’s obviously very special for me as a teacher to have such a talent in the class. But, to be honest, the whole class is special for me.”

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