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Mathematics

The popularity of mathematics at Heathfield St Mary's has grown rapidly. Our experienced and enthusiastic staff strive to encourage every girl, regardless of inherent mathematical ability, to enjoy and succeed within the subject.

During the first three years, we ensure that girls have the essential skills in order to embark on the GCSE course successfully. Girls who arrive at Heathfield St Mary's School already equipped with a strong foundation are extended beyond the national curriculum, in order to develop their mathematical prowess as far as possible. The girls are set in every year group so that their needs can be met more effectively.

GCSE

The Edexcel examination board is used for mathematics and there are two tiers of entry available: Foundation and Higher. Two pieces of coursework are required, each carrying a weighting of 10% of the final examination.

AS & A-level

Sixth Form mathematics is proving very popular, with almost 40% of Lower VI Form / Year 12 currently studying for their AS examination. A large proportion of girls continue in Upper VI Form / Year 13 to study for the A2 examination. Able girls are encouraged to study further mathematics. Examination results for all post-16 mathematics courses are impressive with 86% achieving A and B grades in 2005.

Bringing Mathematics to Life

• ICT
The maths department use two electronic SMARTboards to enhance the clarity of conceptual ideas and explanations. Lessons are saved and stored on the school's intranet so girls can look back over a lesson or use it as an invaluable revision tool. Other ICT facilities include graphing packages and support material to help girls with the statistics element of their coursework.

• Clinics
Weekly drop-in clinics are held for girls to seek help, whether a Form I / Year 7 girl is struggling with decimals or a sixth former is pondering over the integration of inverse hyperbolic functions. Extra clinics are held seasonally to cover coursework and examination preparation.

• UK Mathematics Challenge
Every year we enter girls into this national competition. The questions are designed to test girls' mathematical intellect, and questions usually extend considerably beyond the National Curriculum requirements. We have enjoyed some excellent results over the past few years with several girls scoring in the top 1% in the UK and qualifying for the second round of the competition.

• Puzzles
Weekly puzzles and competitions are set for the girls on the department notice board with the SuDoku challenges, in particular, proving hugely popular. Large quantities of chocolate prizes have changed hands!