Enter math challenges, hone key skills, grow ability in a supportive fun and creative environment.

Class content

In these small group classes I will prepare students for common maths challenges such as the AMC, Kangaroo, Gauss, UK Mathematics Trust and any more that are suitable. Students will learn the key skills that are required to tackle the problems that occur in these, tips to save time and brain power, general problem solving techniques, how to collaborate on problems and work solo, and finally how to think like a examiner and write problems themselves.

Each class will begin with a warm up problem, a focused topic, practice questions and end with a particularly hard or creative problem which can be solved solo or as a group. Each week, I will pose a variety of optional problems for students to work on in between classes.

I will advise parents and students as to the yearly mathematical competition calendar and will support student entry into them.

  • Fundamental skills

    Classes develop key skills for high-school maths such as powers, roots, simplification, factoring, fraction manipulation, solving equations, elemental geometry and more.

  • Creativity and insight

    Students are taught to view mathematics as ‘the art of the shortcut’. Changing perspective to simplify problems into something easier is preferred over raw hard work. Looking for these short-cuts and tricks is the basis of solving many challenge problems quickly.

  • Fun

    Maths should be as delightful as it is challenging - I mix in puzzles, games and play in a way different from many school classrooms.

  • Problem solving

    Students are encouraged to approach problem-solving in a logical and systematic way, trying a range of techniques such as creating simpler models and building up, separating the problem into distinct parts, comparing it to similar problems, and using alternative representations.

  • Team work

    For part of each lesson, students will be expected to work together to solve a particularly different problem, fostering collaborative and communication skills

  • Confidence and performance

    Solving maths problems against a clock is never going to be stress-free, but as my old maths teacher liked to say: “Only pressure turns coal into diamond.”. By preparing and taking short tests like maths challenges, students build resilience, confidence and character with each one. These strengths have impacts far beyond maths.