From Our Leader of Pedagogy - Mrs Abbie Matthews

Maths Olympiad Competitions

This year, St Carthage’s nominated three teams in the Maths Olympiad Competitions. Students were selected for these teams based on school results in Mathematics as well as teacher nominations. Trials were held in Term One where students were introduced to the program and given a number of problem solving activities to complete. Congratulations to the students who have been selected to represent our school in these teams.

Competition Format:

• The Olympiad competitions comprises of four separate contests held approximately six weeks apart, starting in early Term 2.
• Students are required to complete all four contests
• Each contest paper contains 5 questions, worth 1 mark each, and the paper must be completed in a specified time-frame of 30 minutes
• Contest papers are completed individually (Olympiad and Games) and in pairs (Explorer).
• Each contest is held under exam conditions in the classroom and marked by Mrs Matthews who then submits the results to APSMO via our Members' Portal.

The main aims of these competitions are to:

• Provide schools with an ongoing, high quality and well recognised enrichment and extension opportunity for their high potential or gifted students.
• Develop increased creativity and flexibility in problem solving and mathematical reasoning.
• Stimulate students' enthusiasm for, and enjoyment of, mathematics.
• Build students’ confidence in their own abilities.
• Allow high achieving students to showcase their skills and abilities and be recognised for their efforts and achievement.

Maths Olympiad: Year Six    

The Maths Olympiad is a prestigious inter-school competition that presents high-achieving students with a wide variety of problems, designed to challenge and extend them individually. The aim is to provide a level playing field for all students, while encouraging them to think independently in solving the problems presented. Mrs Matthews works with the team in between contests, reviewing the previous contest and completing follow-up questions based on the problems and strategies in each paper. These activities are designed to engage the students in practise and further ongoing mathematical challenge.

Example Question:

A palindrome is a whole number that reads the same forwards and backwards. For example, 30 903 is a palindrome. Jill has worked out the greatest palindrome that is less than 30 903. Kyle found the smallest palindrome that is greater than 30 903. What is the sum of Jill’s palindrome and Kyle’s palindrome?

Maths Games: Year Five

Unlike the Maths Olympiads, students participating in the Maths Games compete only against students within our school. They do not compete against teams from other schools. The primary focus of this program is to build students’ confidence and encourage them to learn and develop their problem solving skills.  

Each paper focuses on the application of two distinct problem solving strategies, starting with the least challenging in the first paper and progressing to more challenging concepts through the year. In between contests, Mrs Matthews meets with the team working through specific problem solving tasks based on the strategies in the upcoming contest.

Example Question:

Jeremy and Kaleb are building a fence around a paddock. They start at one corner and work around in opposite directions to each other. Jeremy takes 30 minutes to build one metre of fence. Kaleb takes 10 minutes to build one metre of fence. The perimeter of the paddock is 80 metres long. How many more metres of fence will Kaleb build than Jeremy? 

Hint: How much of the fence will Jeremy build in one hour?

Maths Explorer: Years Three and Four

The Maths Explorer program allows students in Years 3 and 4 to collaborate with their peers and work together to make decisions about the way they explore a problem.

The primary focus of this program is to build students’ confidence and encourage them to develop their skills in a non-competitive environment. It uses fun and relatable themes to showcase how problem solving strategies can be applied to a variety of problems. It encourages students to work together to expand their knowledge and understanding of key problems solving strategies that can be applied to a wide range of problems.

Example Question:

Comic Book Wendy borrowed a comic book from the library. On Day 1, she read 5 pages. Every day that followed, she read 3 more pages than she read the day before. How many pages did she read on Day 10? 

Answers will be published in the next newsletter