Maths

Miss J Bacon - Head of Maths

The Maths department comprises five well qualified and experienced members of staff.

Mathematics is a way of viewing and making sense of the world. It is used to analyse and communicate information and ideas, to tackle a range of tasks and real life problems. The language of mathematics consists of diagrams and symbols, with associated conventions and theorems. The special power of mathematics lies in its capacity not just to describe and explain, but also to predict – to suggest possible answers to practical problems.

At the beginning of Year 7, students are taught in mixed ability groups for a short period of time, after which they are re-organised into ability groups. This continues through out KS3 in consultation with other subjects.

The department philosophy is always to match a student’s mathematical needs and abilities with the programme of study followed. This should ensure individual potential is reached and there is always the opportunity to move groups.

Students in all years have three lessons and one to two homeworks each week. To support students who need help and practice with class and homework we hold a rota of lunch time “drop-in” clinics, which are well used by students and, hopefully, means no child becomes distressed or worried by work they find difficult.

The Department issues plus and minus points in-line with the school behaviour policy. We also reward students with a Pupil of the Month Award which recognises effort, achievement and attitude in all Maths classes.

The Maths department has excellent teaching resources. Four classrooms are equipped with Interactive Whiteboards and we have an ICT Suite which is used by students during lessons. We also subscribe to the website www.mymaths.co.uk Each student is issued with their own login details enabling staff to set online homework or revision, either for the whole class or personalised to individual students when appropriate. This website is fully accessible from outside school and can be used by any student in any year as it caters for students from a level 2 all the way up to A level.

We have recently invested in the Oxford University Press Maths Links text books for Key Stage 3 and GCSE Maths for Edexcel for Key Stage 4. Along side these books staff have access to worksheets, Whiteboard Maths PowerPoints, the Oxford “OxBox” interactive resources for KS3, 10 Quick Questions and mymaths for use during lessons. We also aim to use a variety of resources such as Tarsia jigsaws, dominoes, match up cards and loop cards to ensure that our lessons are dynamic and fun for our students.

On Enrichment days students enjoy differing activities with a Mathematics theme. This year we have had a Business Day for Year 9 where the students designed a layout for a Café, planned the menu taking into account potential profit and staffing costs, planned a staff list and rota and then designed advertising, special offers and a menu for their business. Year 10 took part in a revision carousel prior to their modular GCSE exam. Year 8 had a team challenge day which involved group and individual work, countdown and logic puzzles which all scored points for their team with the winning team rewarded.

Our students are entered for the Edxecel Modular GCSE. There are two tiers of entry: Higher or Foundation.

The Modular exam involves them sitting a GCSE examination in the November and June of Year 10 which account for 50% of their final GCSE mark and an examination in the June of Year 11 which accounts for the other 50%.
Coursework is NOT required for GCSE Mathematics

In 2008 75% of all students achieved an A* - C grade in GCSE Mathematics