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Original poster

Intermediate Maths Challenge 2019

32 replies

DragonTrainer3 · 25/02/2019 17:47

Has anyone had any experience with this? We were vaguely aware DS1 was taking it, but have now been phoned by his school to say he's on to the next level (although no further details as yet).

Almost nothing about it online, so I thought I'd tap in to the great collective wisdom of Mumsnet! Grin

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OKBobble · 28/02/2019 20:01

Our school got 100 gold, 85 silver and 65 bronze so they never have any awards ceremonies and just hand the certificates out in class. The ones that do get a mention are those that go on to Olympiad and some even go through to the International Challenge. As you say though if you get picked to play for local "colts" of Premier Rugby Club you get a lot of coverage.

TinklyLittleLaugh · 28/02/2019 17:40

Same at our slightly rough comp; DS got into Kangaroo last year, got a big fuss made in assembly, letters home, newsletter mentions etc.

LeFaye · 27/02/2019 15:57

Ah ok, at my DS’s prep they make it into a big fancy thing, just like sporting awards. Photo with the headmaster etc.

Michaelahpurple · 26/02/2019 23:27

At our prep school they get tonip in assembly to collect their certificates and the weekly newsletters have al the results - the equal ranking for nerdy stuff is one of the things I like about the school :-)
About a third to a half of the year 7s and 8s sit the Intermediate - it’s optional, unlike the junior.

GreenTulips · 26/02/2019 12:27

Not in dd's school. It's not as though they've done well in sport!

Same here

After the Senior Maths Challenge, DS2's teacher just handed him his certificates at the end of a lesson

Yep

TheFirstOHN · 26/02/2019 11:44

After the Senior Maths Challenge, DS2's teacher just handed him his certificates at the end of a lesson.

PenguinPandas · 26/02/2019 11:40

No award ceremonies parents are invited to at primary. At DDs grammar last year they did a Powerpoint presentation to all the kids with the names and who had got what in all categories and as DD came top she got the last slide all to herself and was mortified. Not sure what current school does - they are still awaiting this year's results.

JustRichmal · 26/02/2019 11:10

There are awards ceremonies?

Not in dd's school. It's not as though they've done well in sport! Confused

TheFirstOHN · 26/02/2019 10:50

There are awards ceremonies?

LeFaye · 26/02/2019 10:47

Ime the schools deals with most of it. Our DS has done well in a lot of them, but we haven’t really gotten involved until it’s been time to attend the awards ceremonies 😅

JustRichmal · 26/02/2019 08:31

Dd has sat a lot of these over the years. She sometimes does well and sometimes does not. She does better when she practises for them. I think she has been in a couple of Olympiads and a couple of Kangaroos. If your ds is in year 10 he will sit the same test next year. If he enjoys maths problems, he could ask the school if he could have a go at the senior maths challenge next Autumn as well.

For now though, definitely get him to do at least one past paper for the kangaroo so he knows what to expect. And congratulations to him for getting through to the next round.

Also, congratulations trinity0097 getting some from year 7 and 8 to do the test and getting some through to the next round. We need more good maths teachers like you and Noble who broaden the maths for the top sets.

TheFirstOHN · 25/02/2019 23:45

The kangaroo is a similar format to the initial round. Multiple choice, I think there's 25 questions. The UKMT website should have last year's paper for him to have a look at so he can familiarise himself with the format.

Original poster
DragonTrainer3 · 25/02/2019 23:11

Wow @TheFirstOHN! From what I understand, that's a big deal, well done him!

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TheFirstOHN · 25/02/2019 23:05

DS2 did quite well in the initial round last year and got through to the Intermediate Olympiad.

Original poster
DragonTrainer3 · 25/02/2019 21:15

Thanks @PenguinPandas, I'll have a look!

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PenguinPandas · 25/02/2019 21:12

If he has ASD definitely look up a past paper on the UKMT website Individual Challenges and show him, answers are published too. My DS is ASD and very mathematical but questions he's not used to can set him off if not pre warned.

PenguinPandas · 25/02/2019 21:08

DD did this but she's in y8, they were told today no results back yet but she did junior kangaroo last year and its just another round. If you go on UKMT website it has example papers. Congrats to him.

Original poster
DragonTrainer3 · 25/02/2019 20:58

That would make sense, he got a silver a couple of years ago, but he just got a certificate for that, and this time it was a gold and he gets to do another thing. He's one of the youngest (Y10, summer baby) so we're astonished very pleased.

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trinity0097 · 25/02/2019 20:22

Oh and the kangaroos etc are not ‘above’ gold. It’s a separate thing, so some of mine got through to the Kangaroo on just a silver award this year.

trinity0097 · 25/02/2019 20:21

The difference between the Grey and pink Kangaroo is purely the ages.

So the kids I teach who got through to a Kangaroo round go through to the Grey Kangaroo as they are in Yrs 7 & 8. The pink kangaroo is for older kids, but not sure of the cut off. Then the one in Yr 8 through to an Olympiad does the Cayley Olympiad as it is for Yr 9 and below.

All sat at school on Thursday March 21st.

It was a hard test this year according to my in school expert who has been doing this type of thing for nearly 40 years!

LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD · 25/02/2019 18:29

Well done him!

Original poster
DragonTrainer3 · 25/02/2019 18:28

Looking at the scores, it seems he qualifies for the Kangaroo, but not the Olympiad. Hopefully the school will tell us more soon (parents evening coming up soon, so I'll ask)

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Original poster
DragonTrainer3 · 25/02/2019 18:25

That's brilliant news! Yes, he did seem to enjoy the last one, but he's much better on home turf, not sure how he's do in a new environment.

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noblegiraffe · 25/02/2019 18:21

Oh and it’s sat in school, not a different centre.

noblegiraffe · 25/02/2019 18:20

The Kangaroo is a round similar to the one he has already sat with multiple choice questions.

The Olympiad is something entirely different and he will need to look up past papers to get his head around what they’re looking for, which is written proofs to maths problems.