Year 9 Maths Information Evening Nicola Fareham Head of Department Chris Gibson Acting Key Stage 4 Coordinator

Why are we having an information evening? To introduce you to the new GCSE Maths specification. To keep you informed of important dates. To let you know what is happening in your child’s Maths lesson.

Maths GCSE Changes All students sitting their GCSE Maths exams from 2017 will be following a new curriculum. It will be a linear specification with students having one sitting at the end of year calculator papers and 1 non-calculator. Broader and deeper mathematical content. Designed to be more rigorous to allow stretch and challenge for both Higher and Foundation students

This course is a 3 year linear course. It will be assessed externally with exams in June of year 11 Students are either working towards the Foundation (1-5) or Higher (4-9) exam depending on their ability. The tier they sit will not be determined until the end of year 10, but may possibly still change in year 11 Structure of the assessments

A similar proportion of students will achieve a grade 4 and above as currently achieve a grade C and above. A similar proportion of students will achieve a grade 7 and above as currently achieve an A and above. For each examination, the top 20 per cent of those who get grade 7 or above will get a grade 9 – the very highest performers. The bottom of grade 1 will be aligned with the bottom of grade G. Grading

Grade 5 will be positioned in the top third of the marks for a current Grade C and bottom third of the marks for a current Grade B. This will mean it will be of greater demand than the present grade C, and broadly in line with what the best available evidence tells us is the average performance in countries such as Finland, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The new maths GCSE will be tiered, with grades 4 and 5 available through both tiers. Grading

Ofqual Chief Regulator Glenys Stacey said “We do need to caution against direct comparisons and overly simplistic descriptions of the approach. For example, it is not right to say simply that a new grade 4 will equal a current grade C.” Grading

Internal Assessments Throughout the year there will be numerous internal assessments. These will be used to help predict final GCSE scores which will appear on your child’s Praising Stars report. These will take place during the following weeks w/c 24 Nov w/c 19 Jan w/c 9 Mar w/c 20 April w/c 22 June – Full Mock Assesment These assessments sometimes lead to set changes for some students so they are working with other students with similar ability to themselves.

Internal Assessments Year 9 students will sit a full GCSE exam paper at the end of year 9 so they can see for themselves the progress that they have made since year 8 and also experience sitting a Maths GCSE paper. This does not count towards their GCSE grade.

‘Corridor of Delight’ All students will receive a grade tracker showing them whether or not they are on the right path to making good progress.

All students will receive a sticker for their books where they can record their progress and refer to it. Tracking Progress

Homework Homework will be set as in previous years using Login: outwood Password: equilateral Every student has one week to complete their homework. This is set on MyMaths. All teachers in the department provide enrichments after school to give students support with their homework. We will comment and put a sticker in planners when homework is not completed, set a detention and this will follow the academy homework policy.

What can your child do? Come to lessons fully equipped and ready to learn -Pen, -Pencil, -Ruler, -Scientific calculator, -Exercise book, -Planner Attend all lessons Complete homework

Thanks for Any questions?