Mathematics

To see what has been happening recently in Maths visit our Twitter page @TynecastleMaths

Staff
Benjamin  Pilford (Curriculum Leader)
Andrew Bryce (Deputy Head)
Sophie Dickens (Digital Development Officer)
Flora McGill
Louise Pirie
Lucy Rose
Clyde Simpson (Probationer)

Ethos
The faculty aims to support and encourage all students to achieve their full potential in the subject of Mathematics and beyond during their time at Tynecastle. We aim to do this by providing a blend of excellent direct teaching, formative assessment, peer learning and collaborative approaches. We also aim to use ICT in the form of SMART boards, graphic calculators and Apple iPads to enhance the curriculum for our students.

Maths Icons.002

Maths Icons.001

Maths Icons.003

 

 

 

 

 

Read more about Numeracy across learning in Tynecastle here

Major Achievements
The faculty regularly performs well in SQA examinations. Student performance is also very good in S1, S2 and S3. The value added statistics for both Curriculum for Excellence tracking and NFER are regularly strong and positive.

Resources
A wide variety of resources are used in the Maths faculty. These include TeeJay and Leckie & Leckie textbooks, iTunes U courses, worksheets developed by Tynecastle teachers to really focus on the learning needs of our students, show me boards, group activity materials and co-operative learning materials. We also have interactive computer software as well as Texas TI84 graphic calculators. All classrooms in the department have interactive SMARTboards.

Courses
S1, S2 & S3:
Our new Curriculum for Excellence courses cater for First, Second, Third and Fourth levels of study. There is a far greater emphasis placed on problem solving, collaborative approaches and active learning than ever before. The students are block tested 4 times each year as well as ongoing formative assessment in order to monitor progress.

CfE Qualifications Roadmap Maths
Tap on the image to view the Qualifications Roadmap for Maths

S4, S5 and S6:
In the 2019-2020 session, senior students have to opportunity to study the following SQA courses:

  • National 4 Mathematics
  • National 5 Mathematics
  • Higher Mathematics
  • Advanced Higher Mathematics

All of these courses involve internal unit assessments throughout the year and either an Added Value Assessment (at National 4 level) or external SQA examination (at National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher levels).

Qualifications Summarised by National Parent Forum of Scotland…

Useful Online Resources:
S1 Courses
Level 2/3 Resources by Topic
S2 Courses
Level 3/4 Resources by Topic
National 3 Maths
National 4 Maths
National 5 Maths
Higher Maths
Advanced Higher Maths
The wealth of online resources include a course outline, formulae lists, past/practice SQA exam papers, theory guides, practice unit assessments, exam questions split into topics, video links and step-by-step worked solutions to exam questions.
Scholar – High quality web-based courses and a ‘virtual college’ support network from Heriot-Watt University and it’s partners. Login details provided by class teacher.

[maxbutton id=”2″ ]

Extra Curricular Activities
The Maths Faculty participates in the following events:
Enterprising Maths
Go4Set
SMC Junior Maths Challenge
S2 Local Universities Maths Masterclasses
UK Maths Challenge
Puzzle of the Week
Enigma Club – Thursdays @ 15:30 – Mr McDonald
Lunchtime Boardgame Club – Mondays @ 13:00 – Ms McGill

Useful Websites
BBC Bitesize – S1, S2, S3, S4
Chess
Maths Dictionary
Maths Is Fun
Transum
Top Marks
Maths Drills
Nrich
Maths In English

View our gallery of maths jokes!