MATHS COMPETITIONS!!!!
Maths Competitions 2022
Due to the success we had in these competitions last year, we have opened up registrations for more of the Australian Maths Competitions and the Problem Challenge. There are details for each of them below and they are optional. If your child would like to participate, they can choose to enter as many or as few as they like.
Please fill in this form ( Entries ) before 11 March if your child is entering any of these competitions. By filling in this form, you are giving us permission to add the cost onto your school account.
Australian Maths Competition Years 5 - 8
When: Wednesday 3 to Friday 5 August 2022
Cost per student: $10 (unless sitting CAT and KSF also)
The AMC is an engaging 30-problem competition that demonstrates the importance and relevance of mathematics in students’ everyday lives; it is open to students in years 5 to 8.
Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) competition Years 5 - 8
When: Wednesday 4 May to Friday 6 May 2022
Cost per student: $10 (unless sitting AMC and KSF also)
The Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) competition is a one-hour problem-solving competition designed to encourage student curiosity and promote multiple modes of thinking.
Students do not need computer programming ability, but the competition helps identify students’ computer programming potential.
The competition is an ideal activity to encourage students to solve real-world problems.
The competition has a mixture of multiple-choice and integer answers and incorporates unique ‘three-stage tasks’ that encourage students to develop informal algorithms and apply them to test data of increasing size or complexity. The original problems are designed to be quick to solve and highly approachable, and range in difficulty from very easy to challenging. Some questions test the ability to perform procedures, others require logical thought, while the more challenging problems require the identification and application of algorithms.
Kangourou sans Frontières (KSF) Years 5 - 8
When: Thursday 17 March 2022
Cost per student: $10 (unless sitting AMC and CAT also)
In 1991, two French teachers inspired by the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC) decided to start a similar online competition in France. They called it the ‘Kangaroo’ to pay tribute to their Australian friends.
The competition was a big hit and has since been adopted around the world. It is now known as Kangourou sans Frontières: (Kangaroo without borders). it has grown to become one of the largest international mathematics competitions in the world, with more than 6 million participants annually.
All papers have 30 questions except Middle Primary, which has 24. The primary papers are 60 minutes.
If entering all three of the above competitions, the cost is $20.
Link: Practice for Competitions
Oxford University Computing Challenge
First round: Thursday 26 May 2022
Second round: Thursday 9 June 2022
Cost per student: $10
The Oxford University Computing Challenge (OUCC) builds on the principles used in the Computational and Algorithmic Thinking (CAT) and helps students develop their skills further to produce programmed solutions to computational thinking problems. They will tackle problems using the Blockly programming language,.
The OUCC is a two-round online competition held in term 2 and it’s perfect for students who have previously done well in the CAT and those who’d like to progress to the Australian Informatics Olympiad (AIO).
Each round consists of three sections. The first two sections are of five tasks each and the last is of two tasks, with the complexity increasing with each section. Students have one hour to complete all tasks within sections one and two and attempt the tasks in section three.
Upper Primary – All tasks will be Blockly tasks
Junior – All tasks will be Blockly tasks
The scoring system
A distinction is awarded for scoring 40 or above. A merit is awarded for scoring 25 or above.
Syllabus Area One
Strings, Output and Input
Mathematical and Logical Operators
Conditionals
Loops
Functions
Lists and Arrays
File Input/output – Intermediate and Senior only
Classes and Objects – Intermediate and Senior only
Syllabus Area Two
Logical Thinking
Algorithmic Thinking
Decomposition
Pattern Identification
Abstraction
Evaluation
De-bugging
Problem Challenge Year 7-8
What is Problem Challenge?
Cost: $1
Problem Challenge is a mathematics problem solving competition aimed primarily at children in years 7 and 8. It has been offered to schools throughout New Zealand since 1991 and has become an integral part of the year for many schools. Last year, 657 schools entered 31,746 children. The competition is organised by John Curran and John Shanks from the University of Otago Department of Mathematics and Statistics with huge administrative help from Leanne Kirk and Malisha Gaundan.
The New Zealand Mathematics Curriculum emphasises the need for a problem-solving approach to maths, encouraging children to practise and learn simple strategies such as guessing and checking, drawing a diagram, making lists, looking for patterns, classifying, etc. The problems we pose encourage these sorts of skills.