Subjects: Mathematics

The Royal High Senior School is lucky to be led by a team of highly qualified specialist Mathematicians, with many years of teaching experience. We think Maths is exciting, beautiful and immensely satisfying and try to pass this on to the students. We have 5 dedicated Maths classrooms and access to a range of teaching software which is used to make concepts easier to understand. 

We offer support for those who find aspects of the course challenging, and aim to stretch the most able, through Maths Challenges, Masterclasses and enrichment work. The key to success is enjoyment at all levels, and we strive to nurture interest and enthusiasm for Mathematics within all of our students. Evidence of our success as a department is in the significant increase in the numbers taking Maths in the Sixth form over the past few years.

Mathematics at Key Stage 3

Our setting in Year 7 is largely based on results from the Entrance Examination and MidYis scores for Mathematics, a test that all girls take at the start of Year 7. Our aim is to place students in the group that will maximise their potential at GCSE. Sets 1 and 2 will carry up to 25 pupils whereas set 5 normally has 10 - 12 girls in the group. Movement between sets can happen after whole year-group examinations at the end of every term, but after Year 7 we try and keep the groups more stable in order to minimise disruption to girls' learning mid-year. All girls take the Higher Level examination at IGCSE in Year 11.

Opportunities out of the Classroom:

We support our students with a Maths Help session each Friday lunch time, where anyone can drop in for extra guidance on topics they may be struggling with. Sets 1 & 2 are offered the chance to enter the UK Maths Challenges, and support is available for girls wanting to practise past papers. We participate in the Regional finals of the Intermediate and Senior Team Challenges, competing against a number of schools in the region.

Year 7 students can come along to our Smarties Club, and informal mathematically-based games club run by our Prefects every Wednesday lunch time.

Key Stage 4/GCSE

We follow the Edexcel linear syllabus for IGCSE. (International GCSE) and by year 10 the students will have made good headway into the syllabus. This is an increasing popular syllabus in the UK. It is recognised by UCAS and all Further education colleges. The IGCSE covers topics which are not in the GCSE but give a good grounding for further journeys into Maths. There is no controlled assessment for this course.

Click here to download the IGCSE specification. (http://www.edexcel.com/quals/igcse/igcse09/maths/mathsA/Pages/default.aspx) 

The IGCSE is divided into 2 tiers, Higher and Foundation. We aim to enter all students for the Higher level papers. The Maths results are very good and last year, well over a half of the students gained an A* or an A.