Year 9 Maths Information Evening Chris Gibson C.Gibson@grange.outwood.com Head of Department Kate Wayman K.Wayman@grange.outwood.com Key Stage 4 Coordinator

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

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 11. 2 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.

Structure of the assessments 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.

Grading A similar proportion of students will achieve a grade 4 and above as currently achieve a grade C and above – however the accepted baseline is a grade 5. 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

Year 9 Scheme of Work To prepare students for the demands of the new GCSE, year 9 students are continuing to use the ‘Teaching for Understanding’ scheme of work they began last year. Students will spend a lot longer on each topic than in previous years. Previously we have covered all of the scheme of work in one year and then repeated it each year. This scheme of work means we will not have to do this – each topic builds on top of the previous one. Rather than accelerating students on to new topic content, the focus will be on students developing a deeper understanding of each topic and being able to apply their knowledge to solve problems.

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.

What else are we doing? Enrichments every night apart from Tuesday. One-to-one mentoring. Intervention from the class teacher. Option Maths lessons. Regular homework and monitoring of this. Parental contact where needed. Parents’ evenings.

Why Option Maths? Some students are currently studying option maths in year 9 which will continue until the end of year 10. Some students are selected to do Option Maths in Year 11 – almost 70% of the current year 11 students study option Maths. Achieving their potential in Maths will give our students the best life chances. Since Option Maths has started yearly results have increased dramatically. We know that without Option Maths the likelihood of students achieving their potential or for some attaining a grade 5 or above would fall significantly. As well as looking at achievement, students’ targets play an important role in option maths selection. Practising Maths improves our students’ retention of knowledge.

Homework Homework will be set as in previous years using www.mymaths.co.uk Login: outwood Password: simultaneous 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 listening @OGAMATHS Any questions?