Proficiency in numeracy is an essential skill to develop and this aim is at the core of the work of the Mathematics Department. Each pupil is encouraged to develop an interest in, and an enjoyment of, mathematical experiences and the Department provides courses that equip pupils with those mathematical skills needed for daily life, for economic, business and industrial awareness, and for the study of the subject to a higher academic level. The appreciation of the logic, power and elegance of mathematics will be fostered in the students as well as a realisation of the essential part that mathematics plays in communicating and analysing information and ideas.
Mathematics at Rishworth
All the pupils study mathematics to the end of the Year 11 when they sit GCSE examinations. The pupils are taught in mixed ability groups for the first year, after which they are placed into three sets according to their mathematical ability. Since individual development does vary widely, pupils are given the opportunity to move sets as a result of continuous monitoring of their progress. All pupils take the Key Stage 3 tests at the end of the third year and they are entered at the most appropriate tier for their GCSE examinations.
More able students are also given the opportunity to take GCSE Statistics.
Mathematics and Further Mathematics are offered in the Sixth Form at AS and A Level. Being modular these courses give the flexibility required to satisfy the varied needs of the students. The basic requirement for starting study at this level is at least a grade C in GCSE Mathematics.
The students develop the skills to enable real life situations to be represented as mathematical models, these models to be solved using appropriate techniques and the results tested against the original problem.
Other Information
Mathematics has proved to be a very popular subject for AS
and A Level and it is not unknown for more than half of the Sixth Form
students to be studying mathematics. |
