UKMT maths challenges - how to?

[justanotherdaduser]

Would like to understand how children who do well in the UKMT maths challenges (junior, intermediate etc) prepare, whether they prepare at all etc

DD (year 8) is okayish in maths - in top set and get usually 85% and over in class exams, but not innately brilliant (in my opinion)

I used to teach her maths in primary, specifically for 11plus preparation, but have stopped since end of year 6.

The teaching in class is focused on breadth first, quickly moving from one topic to another, not spending enough time on any one topic to develop deeper understanding. I think the school aims to iterate over these same topics repeatedly for the next few years before GCSE.

For example, I think most of the class can solve simultaneous equation of two variables, but will probably struggle with a third variable and likely to struggle with a complexly worded problem where sentences may not easily be translated into simultaneous equations.

So DD struggles with the UKMT challenges - about the first 50% of the questions are doable, she finds the later half harder.

I feel there is benefit in doing these papers - encourages out of box thinking, helps in developing much deeper understanding of the topic, builds resiliency etc. I am encouraging her to do them seriously (school makes all top set students take the UKMT challenges), but also conflicted that maybe I shouldn't push too hard because unsure whether these problem solving skills are meant to come naturally.

Question is - if your DC does (or did) well in these challenges, did they prepare specifically for such types of questions? Or was school work enough for them to do well?

Should have written: attempted 3 problems out of 6 and did not get any full mark for BMO2. The best thing about Olympiad is once you know the solution there is also an “art” to present it in the most concise, creative and new thinking.

It is possible to have loads of busy hobbies and still be able to be qualified for BMO from year 10.

Again, I don’t think you followed the conversation. Their kids stopped there in the competition because they didn’t train/practise for it. But to go further in any competitions, they need to work hard for it.

some kids take these competitions as a bit of fun/challenge or because they have and that is fine. Others take them seriously and train for them and that is fine too. People should not judge the second group because their own kids do not care/got no where or that’s the limit of their ability.

I think my Y 7 ds has been told he has gold and through to Kangaroo. He’s quite an anxious young man and I was a bit worried about him doing the Junior Challenge. What’s the best way to familiarise with Kangeroo to try to make it less daunting. Is it to just do past papers?

@Foxhasbigsocks yes, the old papers, and the answers, usually with worked solutions, will be available online. Make sure you get the Kangaroo that follows on from the JMC. Think the others have colours to distinguish them (pink and grey??).

It's very similar in style to the paper he's just sat just starts a bit harder!!

Mine said he got high 90s, said he will go through with the next round (I assume it's optional) but not do any dedicated prep, I can live with that.

Well done to the ones that got through, DS is pleased he is through to kangaroo.

DS is thrilled to have gotten through to the Kangaroo round too, he scored 96!

It's a great achievement to get to BMO2. BMO2 only has four questions rather than six.

my dc hasn’t got results yet but did it on paper. Did the dc with results submit it online? Well done to everyone’s dc - some amazing results

DS did a paper test, it may be worth asking the teachers on Tuesday

@Summerma thank you. Will remind ds to ask

Do they automatically go through to Kangaroo based on score? DD said she got gold and 97 but doesn't know anything else.

My DS got told today that he qualified for Kangaroo! (He got silver certificate last year in Y7). He doesn't know his score but ukmt website says 92+ for kangaroo this year.

We'll print out a few past papers for him for him to look at but that will be all (same thing he did for JMC). Good luck for the 11th June to all doing Kangaroo!

Mine got 97!

You are right, this is the first year she sat for BMO2, indeed 4 problems and not 6. I might have mixed it with BMO1 which she was qualified for since last year (year 10) and she also corrected me the other day that there was a book prize for her this year, there wasnt a medal(and havent received the book yet).

Both myself and my husband love maths but nothing at IMO level, we have never taught her any maths even at young age. However we encourage her to the max by letting her to join maths clubs, buying all the books she needs. The ukmt mentoring scheme has been super helpful and the week training at Queen’s camp last year was too.

Although as I said, she is no where near IMO level, some super talented mathematicians in our country and if someone says it could achieve by intensive training only then that person has no idea. Although there might be correlation that Vietnam, Korea, Japan and especially China teams are doing really well because these kids do go to special maths school and trained from young age.

Good luck to every one who are qualified for Kangaroo. Its a super achievement. Past paper practice is the best strategy just before the next round.

When look at IMO teams from the USA and Canada, one can’t help but notice the significant representation of students of Chinese or East Asian descent. This phenomenon extends beyond mere mathematical aptitude . It encompasses a holistic set of influences, including a cultural emphasis on the importance of mathematics, the accessibility of comprehensive resources and specialized training for competitive mathematics, and a marked enthusiasm for the subject within these communities.

On the other hand, the UK is experiencing a shift towards embracing Russian education method in mathematics, characterized by a deep-rooted emphasis on understanding and the development of problem-solving competencies.
The emergence of numerous math schools in UK recent years are certainly influenced by Russian pedagogical principles.

My DS who is in Year 6 now got 135/135. He is so pleased with his score and looking forward to the Olympiad.

DS is obsessed with maths. He achieved a Gold in the JMC last year (Year 5). He got Distinction in the following round JMO. Fortunately his school enters all children in year 5 and 6 into the PMC and JMC, which encouraged him.

That is incredibly impressive - huge congratulations to your DS!

Wow - this is amazing! We were so chuffed to find out this week that our DD got a silver award. She's in Year 5 at a state primary and has never done any extra maths before. She seems to really enjoy it these days so might look into getting her a bit of help to prep for next year's challenge to help her work towards gold.

Thank you.
Congratulations to your DS too! Well done👏🏼

Thank you. Congratulations to your daughter too! 👏🏼👏🏼

@twinsyang DD (y6) is through to Kangaroo, very proud of her. What we did to prepare - which might be helpful for some - was rather than doing "past papers" where she usually found questions 1-15 easy we just looked at the harder questions (16-25) and I'd ask her to pick about 3 or 5 of those that looked interesting and try to solve them. That way she gradually learned how to solve the harder questions. If you do this regularly you will notice that certain question types pop up every year, always in some variation.

Anyone know when our DD/DSs will hear about Junior Kangaroo from last week?

the kangaroo answers and merit boundaries are out - you can estimate your score and see if you have a merit

Apparently results came out yesterday but we haven’t heard anything yet