January 24th 2019
Certificates Presented to Years 5 and 6
The Primary Mathematics Challenge is a fun and exciting mathematical Challenge aimed at pupils in years 5 and 6 across England and Wales.
The PMC is not designed to be just another test in the school year but a means of encouraging enthusiasm, boosting confidence in mathematics and showing the different way questions can be asked and answered.
The importance of problem solving is also highlighted as a means of helping pupils develop their reasoning skills as the PMC is designed to make pupils think outside the box. The questions asked are not necessarily subjects that have been covered in the curriculum by this time but the questions can create a great starting point and lead to discussions later in the year. The PMC ensures the questions are not heavily reliant on formal mathematical knowledge, but can be solved by logical reasoning.
The PMC paper has 25 questions. 20 of these are multiple choice. The questions are graded; starting with easy ones and graduating to harder questions. The final five require an answer where no choices are given.
Answering PMC questions does not depend on mathematical knowledge alone, but on the ability to think things through, be logical and find ways to solve problems. Pupils also need to read the questions carefully!
This year across both Year 5 and 6, we had 51 Certificate Winners; 24 Bronze; 17 Silver and 10 Gold. Congratulations to all!
