UKMT Junior Maths Challenge - question

Why would privately-educated children have any more experience with negative marking?

And no, in the junior challenge/Olympiad there's just one set of boundaries. You might be thinking of the Intermediate challenge which has different scores needed for the Olympiads for years 9, 10 and 11.

Interesting thread. (correct me if I am wrong)

State school doing JMC with little practice are screwed because DC have no experience of negative marking. Its not enough to tell them because they have spend years learning to put an answer in no matter what.

And I haven't read it mentioned that Y7 have a lower pass mark than Y8 so its easier for bright kids in Y7.

1200 kids/year get into the JMO in total, I don't know how that number is split across the year groups.

I think quite a lot below Y8 get through to the Olympiad- two in my son's school year (Y6)- one of whom was awarded merit, the other just qualification.

learning how to think like a mathematician and not just as someone who can do maths

• I love this way of putting it

ukmt bookshop for those whose children would like to deepen their skills.

For aspiring young mathematians the maths challenges are a really interesting and fun way to encourage them to think about maths more deeply and can be life changing for children who are otherwise under challenged, because they provide a really good path for deepening thinking skills and learning how to think like a mathematician and not just as someone who can do maths.

Coming back to this a bit late. The Junior Challenge is Year 8 and below.

Intermediate is Year 11 and below.

www.ukmt.org.uk/individual-competitions/junior-challenge/

Still not getting all the hype but each to their own.

My ds got a silver in the junior maths challenge. He is in year 5 and summer born at that! He didn't even know he'd done it- his teacher always gives him extension work so he just thought it was something to stretch him while the others were doing something else.
However, having got a silver he is now ultra keen to prepare for next year so he can get a better result. I'm just hoping his year six teacher will take the time to sort it for him & isn't just focusing on SATS.

It's like e.g. athletics - for the vast majority of us, our children's 100m time has zero significance, they don't practise, prepare for sports day, etc. For the few good ones - you bet they keep track of their times! And pay attention to others' at county/regional/national competitions And there are people higher up with a little list of interesting names to look out for in the future ...

Like any other competitive activity, RedHelenB, maths can be done with varying degrees of seriousness. Taking it more seriously usually leads to better results - not only in this competition, but in future maths contexts. Some of us think that's a good thing! When people make a virtue of not preparing for UKMT competitions I'm reminded of the Flanders & Swann song:

"And all the world over, each nation's the same
They've simply no notion of playing the game
They argue with umpires, they cheer when they've won
And they practice beforehand which ruins the fun!"

The UK team just did very well, and came top of Europe, in the International Mathematical Olympiad, with three gold medals, two bronze and an Honorable Mention. You'd better believe those young people prepared, and the JMC is, for some, the start of that road. The IMO in turn is often the start of stellar careers: eg Maryam Mirzakhani, the Fields Medallist who has tragically just died, started that way.

Not quite getting all the hype about this tbh. My dd s did it at secondary with no prep and told about it on the day or the day before. Top set maths usual smattering of results. Certainly no one on edge to see what they got!

you said it was aimed at boys :)

If you had a female mathematician facing issues with sexism and expectation you would understand why I'm prickly about this.

Sorry I wasn't trying to suggest they don't - I can only speak from my experience. I'm sure they do do just as well - I never said anything about that 🤔

jmc has been going a number of years wimbles and state school students of both sexes do very well in it too.

wouldn't she do intermediate Sandy?

Just to confirm JMC is for girls as well!

DD did it in Year 7 and Year 8 and got a Merit in the Kangaroo both times.

It's a great competition and has really inspired her. I think the SMC next year is going to be quite a step up though.

WilfSelf - we were the same / only boys from top set sat the JMC without any prior warning so no prep.
Having said that after doing 11plus most boys are at at decent standard.

No they are different.
If you google it they are different organisations.
PMC has bee going for a while - we have always done them and if you look at the papers that are slightly simpler than JMC which is aimed at boys from yr 6-8.
From what I can gather this is the first year of JMC. DS said it started off easy but got trickier - I guess aimed at older boys? Most of his top set I think got bronze or silver / one at least got gold. They are all mainly going to grammars or selective privates in London.
HTH

My DS did the Primary Maths challenge bonus round this year and got a gold medal. The website mentions previous gold medalists going through to the Olympiad but there isn't much information about how that comes about. We were never given his actual score either. We only know that he is one of 90 who got a gold. Another child in his class got a bronze. ( state Primary school)

Does anyone know if the Primary challenge is linked to the junior one?

Wow nightswimming that's great. Gotta ask, for context ....
Private or state? Tutored? Lots of preparation and practice beforehand with past papers? Self-motivated wider reading? Natural mathematical whizz destined for a future Field Medal?

sorry just saw you answered own question good luck

generally, our term ended a while ago and DCs had JMK results quite a few days before end of term. (Merit here in Y6 - yay :) )

Ooooh this is the thread I've been looking for!
DS did the JMC this yes and got a bronze too.
His school has some very able boys (prep) one of whom at least got a gold - am wondering how he compares to your average child though....as his top set doesn't have too many of those...he is bright....