The primary objective of this course is to prepare for the Maths Olympiad. Only 200 out of over 700,000 students in the age group of 11-13 (School Year Y7 & Y8) in UK get a medal in Olympiad. This makes it a highly prestigious and coveted achievement.
It’s a lifetime achievement that helps all the way up to getting admission in the desired course at University and beyond.
Olympiad medal or not, the course is designed to stretch one’s abilities beyond the usual that no school curriculum does. It imparts a systematic approach to viewing the problem from different angles, analyzing its various aspects, breaking it down into manageable chunks, summoning all your skills, making the best use of information available, taking inspiration from other similar problems solved in past applying a disciplined & systematic approach to finally solve it. The internal satisfaction and the confidence earned by the students at the end of solving these tricky problems is unparalleled. The problem-solving abilities, no matter how hard the problems are, and that confidence are the strong takeaway from this course that carries into other aspects of their lives.
A good amount, of course, is devoted on not just solving the problems but also presenting/expressing it in a structured way for evaluation. This is an ability which is very useful not just in mathematics but in general. In particular, this will be very useful to score high in the GCSE and A level exams where the emphasis is not just on answers to the questions but how you arrived at it?
GCSE exams are moving more from theory to the practical application. Since 2015, the new GCSE has a greater focus on both Problem Solving and Reasoning. The course will naturally equip the students in tackling this new format.
Many Universities including Oxford and Cambridge conduct entrance test for certain courses that involve 3-hour Maths paper. This course is a very early stepping stone for the same.
JUNIOR (SCHOOL YEAR Y7 & Y8) MATHS OLYMPIAD PREP COURSES
Highlights of the Course
A Modular approach to 16 topics covered in 30 sessions
Over 250 Olympiad level questions (Equivalent of 40 Olympiad size papers).
Animated audio-video solutions to all questions for accelerated learning.
Theory, tips and tricks to remember before each module
Any time access to website with over 33 hours (2000 minutes) of animated video solutions with voiceover to the questions
A generic and universal 6 step process common to any problem solving
Emphasis on practice, practice, and practice
Real exams like Mock Tests and a visual progress tracker.
Past Performance
Champs of Maths has been running the Olympiad preparation sessions over last 2.5 years. The achievements of the last 2 years are:
4 Gold Medals
2 High prizes over and above Gold medals
4 Silver Medals
3 Bronze Medals
2 invitations to attend Maths Summer school at Oxford/Leeds University
21 invitations to Olympiads
Topics and Number of Questions
The topics are relevant based on the past 15 years of questions. The question set includes questions asked in some of the past papers. In addition, past papers will be made available. We will cover roughly 180-200 out of the above 250 questions during the course.
1 Sequence, Series and Patterns
2 Circles and Bodhayan Theorem
3 Unit’s and Ten’s place of products
4 Algebraic Identities & Cyclic symmetry
5 Inconsistent Equations
6 Permutations & Combinations
7 Chessboard and Grids
8 Speed, Distance and Time
9 Calendar, Date, Age, Time & Clocks
10 Angles in Polygons
11 Logic and Reasoning
12 Properties of Numbers
13 Prime Numbers
14 Divisibility of Numbers
15 Geometry
16 Teams & Turn Games
Sample Videos on Topics introduction and Problems
Here are a few sample videos of the animated audio-visual theory lesson and problem solution
1) Topic Inconsistent Equations
Theory & Tips Sample Video-1
Sample Question & Solution Videos Sample Video-2
2) Unit's & Ten's Place in a Product
Theory & Tips Sample Video-4
Sample Question & Solution Videos Sample Video-5
3) Geometry
Sample Question & Solution Videos Sample Video-7
Pre-requisites:
The attendees should have a sound understanding of Mathematical concepts. The sessions will spend a minimal time on the basic theory and will be focused on the application of it to solve complex problems. So, a very sound understanding of the Mathematical concept is a minimum requirement. This course is ideally aimed at the students in the highest Maths group and who can show persistence and grit to perform at the Olympiad level. Ideally, students who have got the invitation to Olympiad in their previous years OR are expecting the same this year are most suitable.
The attendees and the parents have to register for the course with the right expectation and mindset. This is not a usual year 7 and 8 Maths curricula revision course. This is aimed at Olympiad preparation. Undoubtedly, there will be times when the attendees may feel overwhelmed and may have the urge to quit. A right mindset and support from the parents is a must to perform at the level of top 1000 mathematician across UK. Please note that the 200 medal winners from more than 750,000 aspirants are those who show exceptional grit and commitment.
High-speed Internet Access with a speaker/headphone in a quiet room – To get the benefit out of the 2 hour sessions over webex, you will need this. No installations or licenses are required for the webex.
All the sessions will involve audio—video interactions with very minimal expectations to write during the sessions. However, if they are comfortable, the attendees will be required to take their own notes alongside the session. No notes/presentations/documents (downloadable or via email)will be provided from our side, except that is available on the website.
Gmail id – The course will be on Google classroom and all attendees will need a gmail id. The attendees or their parents will have to upload the tracker before each session to mark the completion of homework.
Session Schedule and Format (From 7.15 to 8.30/09.00 pm on Monday’s during school term)
Most of the 30 sessions will be on Monday’s during the school term starting.
If at all a session has to be scheduled over a weekend or during the school term break, the parents will be consulted and informed in advance.
Each session will be running for 90-120 minutes on over Cisco webex
All attendees need to login 5 minutes before the time. We will start exactly at 7.15 pm.
There will be a homework of roughly about 2 hours after each session that needs to be submitted on time.
The responsibility of doing the homework on time, updating and uploading the tracker is of each individual attendee.
Every session will be recorded, and the recordings will be available online for any time replay. A session will ‘not’ be repeated on individual requests.
Price:
For about 30 class sessions of 90-120 minutes over webex
Base Price = £400
Price, If the child qualifies for Olympiad = £500 (*)
If the child wins a medal in Olympiad = £600 (*)
(*) The additional price over and above the base price is a bonus to be paid only if the child gets selected for Olympiad or wins a medal
If the price above is a constraint, there is an option to do a self-paced self-learning. This is by just subscribing to the online course and get the access to the recordings of the sessions and questions at £100. You will not be able to attend the weekly sessions and will have to do the course at your own pace without any instructor guidance/intervention.
Terms and Conditions:
Session dates and Times – The dates and times of the sessions are fixed and will not change to suit individual requirements. No special sessions will be taken if one misses any session. Video recordings of some of the sessions can be made available but this is ‘not’ guaranteed.
Homework – Appearing in Olympiad is a no mean achievement. One has to be the best among the best to get to the level. It essentially means stretching yourself beyond your own limits. Remember, only 1200 of exceptional students get to write this exam across the UK. To prepare for it requires, dedication, hard work, and persistence limiting extreme. There will be at least 2 hours (4 hours for some topics) of homework required on top of each of the 1.5-2 hours session. Failure to do the homework sincerely and religiously will mean that the student will be left behind on that topic. It is very important to have the mindset of giving beyond 100% to be successful on this journey. The assessment will be done purely on the basis of the course tracker that needs to be filled alongside the homework. So, without the homework, tracking and feedback will be very difficult.
Course Material – Most of the course material is available on the website to which the registered students will be given access. This includes over 250 questions, their video solutions, and theory/tips/tricks videos. The only way to access the course material is through the website or by attending the session. No presentation, document, the handout will be made available outside the above 2 channels. We will not be able to entertain any request for sharing the soft copy of any of the material.
The pace of the sessions: To optimize everyone’s time, the sessions will run at a pre-defined pace. This is the reason why all the attendees are expected to have a minimum level of understanding of mathematical concepts. At the same time, a reasonable amount of doubts and queries will be encouraged during the session.
Money back – The dates of the sessions are fixed and communicated well in advance. No money will be reimbursed in case you are not able to attend sessions or parts of sessions OR if you want to drop off the course midway. This applies even for cancellation of registration on disciplinary grounds.
Discounts – The only way to get discount is as described in the pricing section above – to introduce new members to champs of maths courses.If the price of the course is a constraint, then you can opt for the online subscription for the self-learning.
Special Considerations – Because of the limited amount of time available and the vast material to go through, we will not be able to entertain any special requests and considerations from any of the parents. The course has to run in a very structured manner with no deviation or ad-hoc requests.
One to one Feedback – The feedback will be available to you in the form of tracker being uploaded by the students. It will have a summary and a pictorial view of - which topic needs special attention and how the student is fairing overall. Discussion on the progress will be arranged after every 10 sessions. However, we will not be able to provide one to one feedback over the phone to all the parents after each session.
Parents’ involvement – Please make enough time available in your children’s calendar to attend the session and do the follow-up homework. Please check the tracker (to be filled by attendees) after each session to monitor the progress. There may be times during the course where some of the attendees feel overwhelmed and have the urge to drop off and give up. Please do spend some time to encourage and motivate them to run through the full course. To succeed at the Olympiad level, one needs more than the individual ability. The whole family has to come together to achieve the goal.
FAQs
Q1. How is this course different from just solving last 10 years papers?
Even if you solve the last 10 years papers, you will get exposure to only 60 questions (Olympiad paper format is 6 questions in 2 hours). This course exposes you to at least 3 times more questions.
Because the course is structured topic-wise, there is a distinct advantage over randomly solving past papers that have questions from various topics jumbled up. If you solve 10 questions of the same topic together in a single session, your mind consciously & subconsciously captures the nuances, subtleties of solving very similar problems. The tips and tricks specified at the beginning and the end of the session will reinforce this speeded learning.
Solving last 10 years papers will anyways be part of the course.
Q2. Is the course not too costly?
Actually not.
If you see the overall cost and the number of hours of interaction, it comes to about £7/hour of interaction which is much cheaper than the normal hourly Maths tuition. At the same time, the material taught, and the techniques shared are much more advanced than any school curriculum covers.
Additionally, it gives out free anytime access to the website having all the questions, their solutions and over 2000 minutes of audio-video material. Ultimately, this course is not the usual school Maths curriculum tuition that is available through many tutors including in your own locality. This is a distilled course for those who want to achieve well beyond getting a good grade in school exams and compete at the Olympiad level. The price should be viewed keeping the objective in mind.
The problem-solving skills and the confidence gained at the end of the course is invaluable.
For the Juniors, one gets only 2 shots at Olympiad – in Y7 and in Y8. In hindsight, ‘the high course fee’ will be the most terrible excuse and a lifetime regret for missing the opportunity to win a medal in the only 2 possible attempts available to you.
Q3. Why is this course not conducted in a physical classroom setting?
Not every student aspires to get an Olympiad medal. Across the UK, only about 1200 students get the invitation for Olympiad. So, the aspirants are spread all over the UK. Normally, from any city, no more than 10-20 students get the invite. It is very difficult to get all these aspirants together physically in one place for the duration of the course.
Q4. Can I register only for a part of the course and not full? OR Can I have a few testers sessions before making up my mind?
No. In a way, it is very much like a school. No matter how good or bad you are at a subject, one has to attend every lecture. There is a reason for structuring the course in the way described above. Many of the topics are interlinked and some problems involve knowledge from more than one topic. Before registering, you have to make up the mind – if you trust Champs of Maths or not.
Q5. How effective will this virtual course (over webex) over a personalized one-to-one tuition?
Many questions at the Olympiad level have multiple ways of solving them. Getting another viewpoint or alternative ways of solving problems can be only achieved in a group set-up. Moreover, the course material is designed such that there will be audio-visual presentations that do not require face to face interaction. The course has been running in its primitive form over last 2 years and has given reasonably good results. It has been improved based on past experience. Moreover, the future way of learning will be audio-visual and over the internet. The course is designed keeping that in mind.
Q6. What happens if I miss a few sessions? Can the missed-out topics be covered again just for me?
No. Anyone to one ad-hoc requests will not be entertained. If you miss out a few sessions, you can watch the recordings (will be available for all the sessions). The course will go at the pace described in the table above. It is individual participants responsibility to align themselves to the pace.
Q7. What if I could not complete the homework on time?
One has everything to gain by completing the assignments on time and everything to lose by missing deadlines repeatedly. The instructor will follow-up, but it is up to individual participants to take up the work seriously.
Please text me at 07557-689-365 if you are interested in discussing any of the points above. I will call you at a time mutually convenient to both of us.