Mathematics Department

Mrs G Hall Director of Learning
Mr C Sankar
Miss Woolgar
Mr Bowman
Miss Chandradas
Mr Ralph
Mr Casey

We are a department of seven specialist full time teachers. Two teachers are qualified to Masters level with a third in the third year of the qualification. We keep up-to-date with current mathematical thinking and regularly use department meeting time to discuss how best to enable pupil learning.

We have seven dedicated classrooms and all are fitted with Interactive Whiteboards. All our main textbooks are in new condition and fully support the current curriculum. Practical resources are also used to support learning and a variety of activities are used to help pupils engage in and enjoy mathematics.

All the teachers are approachable and we encourage parents to contact us to discuss any concerns.

Key Stage 4 Curriculum 2008 - 2009

All pupils follow the AQA Modular GCSE course.

There are two tiers of exam: the Higher tier allows pupils to gain access to A* - D grades and the Foundation tier C – G grades. In Year 10 pupils sit two modules and it is possible for pupils to sit one at Higher level and another at Foundation. It is the module 5 tier that pupils sit in Year 11 that finally decides which set of grade boundaries will be available to the pupils.

Each module exam consists of two papers. One will be a non-calculator paper and the other a calculator paper. All pupils are expected to have a scientific calculator with them for all lessons and exams.

Year 9

Two set 2s and one set 3 start their two year GCSE course at the beginning of Year 9 and take two modules (November and June) in Year 9 and their final module at the end of Year 10. The expectation is that all these pupils gain a ‘C’ grade at the end of Year 10 and then follow the GCSE Statistics course in Year 11. There is no coursework element. 

9T1 will complete KS3 in May 2009 and then start their GCSE course with the view of taking GCSE Statistics at the end of Year 10, and GCSE Mathematics at the end of Year 11.

9M1 will complete the Foundation GCSE course by the end of Year 9 (taking exams in March and June 2009) and then sit the Higher tier in Year 10/11. 

The lower sets start their GCSE in May 2009 and will sit their GCSE Mathematics final exam at the end of Year 11.

Year 10

There is no coursework element in the Mathematics GCSE.

The first module is examined on November 13th 2008 and pupils will either sit Module 1 (worth 18% of the final grade) or Module 3 (worth 27% of the final grade). Results from this exam are expected into school following the Christmas holidays. Module 1 focuses on Statistics while Module 3 focuses on aspects of Number, for example, fractions, decimals, percentages, estimation and rounding and the Higher tier has some Algebra content such as quadratic graphs, expansion and factorising of expressions.

Following this exam pupils immediately work towards the next module (the module not taken in November) which is examined in June 2009. Results will be available on pupils’ return in September.

The Gifted and Talented group will also sit GCSE Statistics in June 2009.

If a new pupil joins the course before the end of May 2009 then they will sit Module 1 and 3 in June 2009. If the pupil joins later than this then unless they have been following this course at their previous school the pupil may sit the Linear paper in June 2009.

Year 11

There is no coursework element in the Mathematics GCSE.

All pupils should also have sat both the Module 1 and Module 3 exams in Year 10 and so will be aware of their performance from 45% of the course by the end of the first week in September.

In Year 11 pupils will complete Module 5 which focuses on Shape, Space and Measures, for example, the Higher tier will cover topics such as trigonometry and both tiers will cover construction, area, volume and transformations. In addition to this pupils will also cover aspects of Algebra such as solving equations and inequalities.

The final module is examined in May and June and is worth 55% of the final grade.