Mathematics
The Mathematics Department is a friendly and lively entity. All members of the department share a love of the subject and enjoy teaching it. We are able to make the lessons fun by sheer force of personality and enthusiasm for the subject. Most students enjoy the lessons, and make progress as a consequence....just look at our results!
Welcome
Staff
Overview
Facilities
In the Classroom
Beyond the Classroom
Mrs Eleanor Bearpark
Welcome to the Maths Department. By the time that children arrive at a senior school maths department they will have developed fairly fixed ideas, and often prejudices, about the subject. Unfortunately, the majority of attitudes on arrival have some negative elements, and many children are plain scared of the subject. So, from the outset, the emphasis is on fun, discovery and release of tension. The beauty of Shebbear College is that we teach to the individual and this is true in the subject of Maths. The “silver moments” * occur at different times for each student, so if a subject proves tricky the first time around, then it is met again and built-on in due course anyway and is always mastered in time for the exams as our results show! Some students make the most progress during the run up to the exams, whilst some learn steadily all the way through the course - with the average class size being 14 we can accommodate a wide variety of learning styles.
* "silver moment": the moment when a child says “Ooooh, I get it!”
Department Staff
- Mrs Claire Cardoo
- Mrs Lisa Parker
Department Overview
At Shebbear College we teach to inspire the pupil, rather than simply to impart information. Whilst still following the syllabus, we deliver our subject as if we were making the discoveries behind each new theorem or formula for ourselves. For example the first lesson on Pythagoras Theorem (a² = b² + c²) will involve stringing a piece of wire 12 units long around three pegs to form a right angled triangle of dimensions 3:4:5 units. One side will be tuned to any note, and then a fascinating discovery will be made when plucking the other stretches of wire! Next, any right angled triangle will be drawn and squares drawn off each side, the pupil will then be challenged to fill the largest square with the two smaller squares, having cut them out. New techniques, such as using Cartesian axes for graph plotting, are seen as tools required, and therefore invented, in order to be able to use mathematics in real life. For example, when introducing the use of co-ordinates, I shall hide some treasure (usually chocolate) on the football pitch, and challenge them to devise a system to locate it. Here they have the need to define a point in space, hence Cartesian axes. The real discoverers and inventors, eg Pythagoras and Descartes, are researched by the students and discussed with reference to their era and their usually exciting lives. I think we would all agree that teaching should be about waking and inspiring a pupil’s own desire to learn, and then supporting and encouraging them on their own particular journey.
Facilities
The Maths Department consists of a suite of rooms, each equipped with an interactive whiteboard, which has access to graph packages and to the internet. We are able to use an IT suite at least once a week, if we should find this appropriate to our studies. The main assets of our department are, however, our teachers. Each member of the department is full of charisma and energy, each being devoted to the subject and absolutely committed to the children, their progress and enjoyment of the lessons.
In the Classroom
Like any senior school Maths Department, we steer 11 year old arrivals through to GCSE and we run AS and A2 Maths and Further Maths for the Sixth Form. Currently the subject is enjoying some degree of popularity; about half of the sixth form is taking Maths and/or Further Maths.
GCSEs
At GCSE we follow the AQA Mathematics modular course, taking modules as and when suits each particular pupil, and we also run GCSE Statistics for the A set.
AS Level
At AS Maths and Further Maths we follow the Edexcel course, offering pure, statistics, and mechanics modules.
A Level
At A2 Maths and Further Maths we follow the Edexcel course, offering pure, statistics, and mechanics modules.
Beyond the Classroom
We run a junior School maths club called Keenie Beanies, and a club for senior school mathematicians called Route Too. We enter the National maths competitions and enjoy preparing for their puzzle questions. We liaise with our Junior School during the transition into the senior school. We are in constant contact with the Learning Support Department, as Sophia Chapman, Head of Learning Support also teaches Lower School maths. Eleanor Bearpark oversees the needs of the gifted and talented.
