Harrison Hollins, a Kumon student from the UK

Harrison Hollins, aged ten Date started (Maths) : May 2003 Start level: 4A Date started (English): November 2003 Start level: 4A

Hello my name is Harrison and I have been doing Kumon Maths for nearly three years. My auntie is a primary school teacher and she felt that I was not being stretched enough at maths in school. I started studying under Sharon Tipton at the Halesowen study centre, in a class of over 100 students. I was her first student to reach Gold level on the maths Advanced Student Roll (ASR). I love maths – in my most recent maths report from school my teacher says that I am an "excellent mathematician with number skills which are simply amazing to witness" and that I have a "mathematical knowledge and ability that well outstrips my years". I did more work at the start because I really enjoyed it. Since starting level D I dropped down to five pages a day. I am now working on level H. Now I am on the higher levels, I find it hard to discipline myself to write out the steps, because I love trying to do it mentally. I also have to work hard to keep my handwriting neat in maths because my brain works faster than my pencil. However, if I don't write out the steps I make mistakes!

I started English six months after I started maths, and was Sharon 's first student in English to reach silver on the ASR. The main reason for starting English was to improve my presentation skills through studying different styles of writing, and to improve my spelling. I really love the range of texts on the English programme, although I prefer the scientific factual texts to the fiction. I do five pages a day on English and my aim is to get to gold level on the ASR. I am currently nearly finishing level EI. I enjoy being good at spelling now, and I hardly ever make a mistake in my spelling tests at school.

When we moved to Somerset to be nearer our extended family, we wanted to carry on my Kumon studies. However, there wasn't a Kumon centre in our nearest town so mum took the plunge and trained to become an Instructor. The Yeovil centre has now been open almost two and a half years, and there are over 50 students joining me in class twice a week.

Earlier this year I took scholarship exams for a private school in Yeovil. I know that Kumon maths and English has enabled me to do well in these exams, and I was offered a place in September.

When I'm not doing my Kumon, I like doing sport. I am taking swimming lessons. I have just bought a new bike and I go out on cycle rides with mum three times a week. I love reading joke books and magazines, especially for Formula 1 and also computers. I'm in the Boys' Brigade too, which is fun because we play all sorts of team games, and do lots of other activities.

My favourite landmark in England is Glastonbury Tor, which has beautiful views of Somerset . I also love exploring Chesil Beach in Dorset, which is famous for its shingles. I like the funky Bullring Shopping Centre in Birmingham. Someday I want to go camping in the Lake District. I went to see Aston Martin cars racing at Silverstone, and would like to see a grand prix there in the future.