Ysgol John Bright
Teacher of Mathematics
Our aim, as a Department, is to give every student in our care the opportunity and chance to
achieve the very best in the subject at whichever level they aspire. These range from Entry Level,
GCSE, Key Skills, AS Level or Advanced Level. We encourage a positive attitude, confidence,
enjoyment and perseverance. An appreciation of the place of Mathematics in society is fostered
together with thinking precisely, logically and creatively. Students are supported to work
independently, co-operatively and to communicate in a way which will help them in the ‘World of
Work’. Our aims are to promote learning through success and praise as much as possible.
The Mathematics Department uses a range of resources, mainly Heinemann Level Up, Hodder
MEI and Edexcel GCSE. All classes are taught in sets within two or three bands for all year groups
leading to the GCSE examination. There is a good uptake of students taking Maths in the Sixth
Form. Some resit GCSE Mathematics in November or June and others take AS, A Level or Further
A Level Maths from the two available columns. Schemes followed are the WJEC GCSE and Entry
Level examinations and the OCR MEI modular A Level. The use of calculators is discouraged in
term 1 of Year 7, as are graphical calculators discouraged in term 1 of Year 12.
We have excellent ICT facilities in our new suite of seven Maths rooms. All have fixed data
projectors and three have interactive whiteboards. The department also benefits from the use of
a trolley with 16 lap tops. The Maths office is equipped with a PC, scanner and printer so that
teaching and learning resources developed by the team can be accessed and printed easily.
The department comprises of eight staff in all, made up of six full time Maths Teachers, each with
their own teaching rooms. The department benefits from our own dedicated teaching assistant.
There are also Support Teachers who help individual students at various times of the week. Each
member of the department, apart from the Heads of Year, are form tutors. All have vital roles to
play. Everyone has a major role in pursuing the aims and general ethos of the department.
Continuing raising achievements throughout and to take part in an active teaching and learning
role.
Continuous assessment of attainment is structured at six points throughout the year. Exams or
tests for each year group allow movement of students between sets at any time. The department
use practical equipment whenever possible, to secure links with the real world. Different
teaching approaches are used, with activities involving Aural, Mental Arithmetic tasks, research
and problem solving activities. An attempt is made in all lessons to relate work students do to the
real world and to other subject areas. Strong links are being developed with the Science Faculty.
Students are encouraged to use computers in lessons and at lunchtime to simulate and solve
Mathematical problems. Our team contributes to whole School ICT with Spreadsheets,
Interactive Learning Software and Function Plotting using Superlogo, Excel and Autograph.
The department takes an active role each year in the Junior and Senior Yale Maths Challenge and
the School Eisteddfod. A successful and close working department; with great success at KS3
over the last few years, with 78% gaining level 5 or above last year. Our success at GCSE is
improving annually. Achieving 56% grade C or above last year and almost 82% A to C grades at A
Level.
In our recent inspection, the department performed very well with Grade 2 in all Key Stages. Our
work mixes traditional and modern learning approaches and teaching styles. Through appropriate
target setting, we are improving Teaching and Learning, monitoring, in-service training, peertraining and the sharing of resources in our meetings.
The aim is to enable all our students to gain a qualification by the end of Key Stage 4. Creating
numerate and confident people in the real world and to be able to question errors made in
calculations. There are high expectations of every student, but respect those who encounter
difficulties. All students are expected to respect each other’s opinion, to work hard and follow
the school expectations. Students should be able to enjoy their time at school and leave
prepared for lifelong learning. Rewards and merits are issued to encourage good attitudes to
learning.
The Maths Department is a developing one and the team of Teachers are dedicated and
hardworking.