Mathematical Olympiads: Email of 2021-04-23

SUBJECT: [AMO/TT] Tournament of the Towns O Level on Saturday 1 May

As usual for the TT exams, I have booked two Saturdays 12-6pm in BLT (Blakers Lecture Theatre) at UWA (confirmed later in the day on 23 April).

The TT exams will be held on:

O Level Paper: Saturday 1 May 12n-6pm in BLT at UWA
A Level Paper: Saturday 8 May 12n-6pm in BLT at UWA

The O Level paper is a 4 hour paper: choose the slot that's convenient for you within the time between 12n and 6pm. I will write your name on the board, along with start time and add 4 hours for the finish time, when you arrive. So you need to start between 12 and 2pm.

The A Level paper is a 5 hour paper: choose the slot that's convenient for you within the time between 12n and 6pm, i.e. you need to start between 12n and 1pm (less choice of time for this one).

For the new students the TT will be a bit of a shock. Just remember: persistence, patience, self-belief are key ... just keep trying new ideas until you find an 'in' and then keep working at it, until you have a solution. Try to get at least a question completely out. You tend to get more for a complete question than for partially worked solutions to questions. It's best to start with the first question, and only abandon the question if you've spent an hour on it, and gotten nowhere.

We'll discuss the O paper in the following week ... and hopefully that will help you feel better about it, before you have a go at the A paper.

In the coming week we will do another Junior O paper for preparation. Many of you got a copy of that paper last week.

Here are the directions to help you locate Blakers Lecture Theatre.