Welcome to the Maths department. In this section of the website, you will find important information for the department as well as some useful links to our curriculum page. If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
| Teacher | Role | |
| Miss R. Scofield | Head of Department | rschofield@brs.srscmat.co.uk |
| Miss L. Jones | Second in Department | ejones@brs.srscmat.co.uk |
| Mrs A. McDowall | Teacher of Maths and Drama Head of Year | amcdowall@brs.srscmat.co.uk |
| Mr W. Gee | Teacher of Maths | wgee@brs.srscmat.co.uk |
| Mrs V. Kaliaperumal | Teacher of Maths | VKaliaperumal@brs.srscmat.co.uk |
Maths homework will be set on a weekly basis by the class teacher. Students will be able to find this on Arbor and students can also use their planners to keep track of the task and deadline.
We use the online platforms Dr Frost and MathsWatch to set homework. Both platforms have videos to help the students if they get stuck on the task. As your child moves into KS4, homework will begin to incorporate exam practice questions to prepare them for sitting their GCSE.
If your child is unable to access home learning online, please ensure that the department are aware so that accessible homework can be set for your child. There are computers within the Maths department that students can use to complete their homework. There is also homework club before school, at lunch time, and afterschool, where computers are available.
Dr Frost https://www.drfrost.org/
MathsWatch https://vle.mathswatch.co.uk/
You will need your pencil case with you every lesson with the whole school expected equipment. This includes a black pen, purple pen, pencil, rubber, sharpener, highlighter, glue stick and a ruler of at least 15cm. You will also need a reading book, whiteboard and whiteboard pen. You may also wish to have an eraser for your whiteboard. You will need to ensure that you put your equipment on the desk at the start of each lesson along with your planner as they all form part of your learning.
All students require a scientific calculator. The one we currently recommend is the Casio FX-83GTCW. The Casio calculators allow students to work with fractions, not just decimals. They also contain other functions useful for their GCSE exam which are not available on some other brands. Please email your child’s Maths teacher if there is any difficultly with providing your child with a calculator.
You are not required to buy a compass or protractor. These will be provided in lessons and exams.
In Maths, we actively celebrate student success. Recognition is given through:
We aim to build a culture of high expectations, effort and pride in learning.
The top 3 winners of each Monthly Maths challenges also receive rewards. They receive a certificate, achievement points and prize; which can include chocolate or golden tickets. The winners are also announced in the school newsletter, social media pages or in the Feel-Good Friday PowerPoints.
Strong reading skills are important to understand and interpret problems in Maths lessons and exams. Vocabulary and subject terminology are explicitly taught throughout the curriculum. Students also practice using these terms by giving verbal explanations to develop oracy. Reading skills are also developed when attempting problem-solving questions and reasoning questions on their worksheets and in challenge tasks.
Desmos Art challenge – January
Fibonacci day – 23rd November
International Day of Women and Girls in Science – 11th February
International Maths challenge – November and May
National Cipher Challenge (ran by University of Southampton) – October to January
Numeracy Day – 20th May
Pi day – 14th March
School Prize in the History of Mathematics – June
St Hubert Feast Day – Patron Saint of Maths – 3rd November
UKMT Intermediate Challenge – January
UKMT Junior Challenge – April / May
Students have the opportunity to participate in a Maths challenge each month. These have a wide range of themes including trying puzzles, researching topics to create posters and participating in National competitions.
Each year, we enter students for the UKMT Junior and Intermediate Maths Challenges. These are national problem-solving competitions. We have had success with students coming in the top 10% of the competition and qualifying for the Kangaroo or Olympiad follow on rounds. We also enter students at two points in the year for the Online Simulated Maths Challenge which is an international Maths competition. We have had students get results in the 80th percentile and above, so in the top 20% of the world.
Another major national competition students have the opportunity to participate in is the National Cipher Challenge (ran by University of Southampton). This is a 10-level code breaking competition that runs from October to January each year. We have also provided opportunities for students to participate in the Schools Prize in the History of Mathematics, the Desmos Art challenge and the Eedi league.
Each year we run a Pi competition in March to see how many digits of Pi the students can learn. Our current school record is 333 digits held by Sophie W.
GCSE students will be taking the OCR exams. There are 2 levels of entry: foundation GCSE (grades 1 to 5) and higher GCSE (grades 4 to 9). They sit 3 papers: the first is a calculator paper; the second is non-calculator; and the third is a calculator paper. Each paper is out of 100 marks and lasts 90 minutes.
The specification can be found here: https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/168982-specification-gcse-mathematics.pdf
More information and resources (including past papers) can be found on the OCR website: https://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse/mathematics-j560-from-2015/assessment/
It is so important to learn Maths even if your future career plans don’t need algebra. Maths is a core life skill. It helps you develop problem solving skills, analytic thinking and logical reasoning. These skills will help you in all career paths, as well as your everyday life. All employers will be looking for candidates who are resilient, logical thinkers, can follow multi-step processes, and solve unfamiliar problems. Fluency with mathematics is important for financial planning and decisions including budgeting, investing money, paying bills and calculating expenses.
While some people believe Maths is less important due to access to calculators and other technology, this is not true. There are more careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) than ever before. Technology advances involve programming, algorithms, cyber security or AI, all which require branches of Mathematics.
Studying for a maths degree can lead to a wide range of interesting and well-paid jobs. A report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that Maths Graduates have the third highest average salary out of all degree subjects. Here are some jobs you can do with a Maths degree:
This list is not exhaustive and is ever-changing. Having an Maths degree or some form of education in Maths opens so many routes for students.
You can find out more information about Maths careers at: https://www.mathscareers.org.uk/
If you have any questions, please contact your child’s Maths teacher.
