There are so many opportunities for students to be involved in Maths this year.
Girls Do The Maths: The School of Mathematics and Statistics at UNSW runs an annual series of free, one-day workshops for female students finishing their high school studies (years 11 and 12). The aim of the workshop series is to encourage female students to consider mathematics as a career. During the workshop, invited speakers will talk about their careers, and there will be sessions on the practicalities of university life, including information about our courses and degrees, applying for scholarships, programs for talented students. These will be complemented by a tour of the UNSW Kensington campus, including a visit to an undergraduate mathematics lecture. Lunch and refreshments are provided.
The Girls Do The Maths workshop is held in the third week of May. This year’s workshop will be held on Wednesday 16 May 2018 in the Leighton Hall, Scientia. This workshop is FREE.
Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians (MCYA) : The Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians (MCYA) is a staged program designed to help motivate, stimulate, encourage and develop mathematically interested students in Years 3 to 10 to bring forth their talent and potential. The MCYA is an ideal program for extension studies and for students who would benefit from greater challenge.
There are three independent stages in the Mathematics Challenge for Young Australians: the Challenge Stage, the Enrichment Stage and the Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad (AIMO).
MYCA Challenge Four-week program March – June (Term 1 & 2) : MCYA Challenge comprises six problems for students in secondary levels. Problems can be discussed in groups of two or three registered students before individual submission of solutions. There are separate problem sets for Junior (Year 7–8) and Intermediate (Year 9–10) students.
MCYA Enrichment 16-week program April – September: MCYA Enrichment comprises six parallel stages of comprehensive student and teacher support notes. Each student participates in one stage. These programs are designed for students in upper primary and lower to middle secondary school (Years 4–10). Each stage includes Student Notes designed to be a systematic structured course over the duration of the program, which students can keep for ongoing reference.
The Enrichment stage is independent of the earlier Challenge stage; however, they have the common feature of providing challenging mathematics problems for students.
The stages are in order of difficulty with general year level recommendations: Dirichlet (Years 6–7), Euler (Years 7–8), Gauss (Years 8–9), Noether (very able students in Years 9–10) and Polya (top 10% Year 10). Dirichlet has 8 problems, Euler and Gauss have 12 problems, and Noether and Polya have 16 problems.
Australian Intermediate Mathematics Olympiad (AIMO) Thursday 13 September: This four-hour examination is an open event for talented students up to Year 10 level, appropriate for those who have completed the Gauss or Noether stage, high achievers in the Australian Mathematics Competition and students who have acquired knowledge of Olympiad problem solving. The AIMO is one of the competitions used to determine which students are selected to a number of invitation only events, including other mathematics competitions, enrichment classes and training schools.The AIMO is conducted in schools under exam conditions. It runs for four hours. Students work on their own and may not use calculators, electronic devices or other aids.
Maths Competitions
- Computational and Algorithmic Thinking: Tuesday 27 March – Years 7 to 12
- Australian Maths Competition: Thursday 9 August – Years 7 to 12. The Australian Mathematics Competition is a 75-minute multiple choice exercise with a focus on problem solving. You do not have to be mathematically gifted to enter this competition.
- Australian Informatics Olympiad (AIO): Thursday 23 August
- UNSW Competition: June – Years 7 to 12. The UNSW Maths Competition is a three hour challenge for students who really excel at Mathematics.
Tutoring for Students
Tutoring sessions will be run by the Maths Department for the Juniors after school on Wednesdays and Thursdays until 4:30pm and for the Seniors Tuesday mornings from 8:00am.
Please contact Mr Brady at [email protected] for further information or to indicate your interest in participating in any of the above activities or competitions.
