Differentiating needs and integrating success!
Mathematics is taught throughout the school by subject specialists; all the teachers have mathematics (or related) degrees.
The principal aims of the department are to enable girls to:-
- Develop their mathematical knowledge and oral, written and practical skills in a manner which encourages confidence
- Solve problems, present solutions clearly, check, interpret and prove results
- Prepare girls for external mathematics examinations
- Apply mathematics in other subjects and in everyday situations
- Enjoy their mathematics!
As a core subject, mathematics is taken by all girls in Years 7-11. Girls are taught in forms at the start of Year 7 and then they are put into sets at an appropriate time in the first term. In Key Stages 3 and 4, there are 6 hours of lessons per fortnight. It is also a popular choice at A-level when typically between a third and a half of the girls opt to embark on the A-level course.
In Key Stage 4, all girls aim to take the higher level OCR GCSE Examination in Year 11, with those in Set 1 also given the opportunity to take OCR Additional Mathematics, a free-standing mathematics qualification (FSMQ) beyond GCSE level. This is a good stepping stone for girls wishing to take maths at A-level, but is by no means a pre-requisite.
Since September 2017, girls in the Sixth Form are prepared for the Pearson Edexcel Advanced level examination which includes both statistics and mechanics as well as the pure aspects of the course. Further Mathematics is also offered at A-level.
All girls are welcome to come to the mathematics clinics twice per week where extra support is available.
We are proud of our record of success in examinations and in national and local competitions. We enter the UKMT mathematics challenges at all levels and many girls receive awards for their efforts. We have won the regional team event in recent years and as such our mathematics team qualified for the national final of the UKMT Team Challenge Competition, putting us in the top 50 of the 1200 schools who entered. We also continue to enjoy success in the prestigious competitions organised by the Mathematical Education on Merseyside (MEM), an organisation made up of the three universities in Liverpool.