User:ZitrinK/Summer multidisciplinary school at MCCME

Summer multidisciplinary school (SMS) at Moscow Center for Continuous Mathematical Education (MCСME) — is a Russian summer learning camp for students from 7th to 11th grades. The school exists for more than 40 years thanks to efforts of a team of young and talented tutors — students and graduates of leading Russian universities (MSU, MIPT, National Research University of Electronic Technology, Bauman Moscow State Technical University, Higher School of Economics, First Moscow State Medical University, D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia and others).

SMS accepts students who have completed 8th-10th grade and are interested in science or humanities. To be admitted to SMS, one must pass a multidisciplinary test and an interview. Entry tests are traditionally held in April in Moscow, Obninsk, Vladimir, Tula and Aleksin.

Foundation: summer mathematical school
SMS (at first, Summer Mathematical School) was founded at 1978 asa summer mathematics camp aimed at preparing high school students to enter and study at the mathematics department of one of universities in Tula, TSPI. At that time, the SMS only taught children, and they were taught only mathematics: no other activities, except teaching mathematics, were provided to schoolchildren.

Over time, more and more teachers of various subjects, besides matematics, gathered at SMS. Since 1990, SMS is operated independently from TSPI and acquires the status of a regional profile camp for talented high school students. That is why 1990 is also sometimes called the year of SMS foundation.

SMS soon became international: at 2000 school students from Ukraine attended summer school, at 2001 году — from Estonia and Germany. At 2014 and 2015 — from Japan.

Organisation of the learning proces
A session at SMS consists of three academic weeks. A week consists of 5 study days and a test Saturday. A day consists of three pairs - the first two before lunch and the third one in the afternoon. Attendance at these pairs is compulsory. The first two pairs are always for academic credit and are conducted in major subjects: mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, programming, engineering, economics, humanities. The third pair is not necessarily credit and can be of any kind. On Saturday, pupils pass credit for the compulsory pairs. The grading system at SMS is a ten-point based.

In addition, since 1998, a new form of classes, the lecture, has also been practised at SMS. Lectures are designed for any group of students, are usually smaller than a training course and take one or several evenings (a course of lectures). Various people are specially invited to give lectures at SMS.

The departments of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Engineering and Humanities have been created to organise the educational process at SMS. The tutors at each department prepare courses so that each student finds a course in a field of interest. A "good" course at SMS is a "science" course, which would be accessible and interesting to children, would include practical exercises.

Each student can choose his or her own courses. The abstracts of all courses with brief information are posted the day before the beginning of the next school week. On Sunday there is a presentation where each teacher presents his or her courses. The children then make their choice.

Other activities at SMS
Life in the camp is organized taking into account the need of students for regular rest. A special system of games allows to provide a mode of constant change of types and areas of activity. At SMS there are role-playing, intellectual-competitive and sports, literary-artistic and musical games.

Ideas for most games are invented at organizational and pre-game staff meetings throughout the year. A large number of new games are developed each year. Creating games is a good way to keep the teaching team creative. Besides, when a game is newly invented, it is more interesting to play it. In addition, a significant part of the games at the camp are traditional games that are held almost every year and are well-proven ones.

Apart from the games, literary and musical evenings (in SMS they are called "clubs") are organized throughout the summer school, through which counselors and tutors try to convey their interests in literature, music, and painting to the children. The topics of the clubs change from year to year.