Mathematics

We want to give everyone the confidence to succeed with Maths by developing resilience and problem-solving skills alongside the necessary core techniques.

At St Edward’s, we place a strong emphasis on pupils analysing their own mistakes and identifying the areas on which they need further work. For those who find Maths difficult, we have a strong support programme, with a mixture of teaching in small sets and one-to-one support in our drop-in clinics. We teach the Edexcel IGCSE (syllabus A) course, starting straight away in the Shell year. Our top set take both their IGCSE exam and AQA Further Mathematics GCSE qualification at the end of the Fifth Form. We believe that depth of study and enrichment is far preferable to acceleration.

Maths is one of the most popular subjects in the Sixth Form and we offer a wide range of courses, from Further Maths at A level for the most able to IB Maths Standard Level AI for those who are specialising in other areas but want to develop their mathematical skills beyond IGCSE. Oxbridge entrance exam coaching is also available within the Department. We follow the Edexcel courses at A-level and Further Maths, offering a flexible programme of applied modules in the latter to suit different interests and aptitudes. We offer all levels of IB Maths. In both areas, we use the Casio CG50 graphical calculator, and have now introduced the Casio ClassWiz model lower down the School to develop proficiency before pupils embark on their further studies.

Making good use of our proximity to Oxford, pupils attend various lectures and master classes organised by the University or by the Further Maths Support Programme.

In the Lower School, Shell pupils have visited Bletchley Park to provide background and historical context for work on code breaking. Business games and share-trading games are always popular. In the Summer term, our Lower Sixth pupils studying Mechanics visit Thorpe Park — as well as being great fun there is a great deal of maths involved in the rides.

We help to strengthen links with prep schools and primary schools by hosting the Junior Maths Team Challenge every year, which attracts up to 160 young mathematicians. We have also hosted the Oxford round of the Senior Maths Team Challenge, and all pupils in top sets are entered for the Intermediate or Senior Individual Maths Challenge competitions, run by the UK Mathematics Trust.

Head of Department: Harry Bond

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