Secondary Maths

Collins GCSE Maths Festival – The implications of the new curriculum – how to teach Higher Tier

The opening comments in my blog of Monday about delivering the Foundation Tier, were from Mr Gove's announcement concerning the outcome of the consultation over the revision of the Mathematics GCSE syllabus. Although the text itself may not be familiar I am sure that the ideas expressed certainly are not: broader, deeper content; more contact time. Read More

Collins GCSE Maths Festival – Amnesty Questions Answered Part 1

Day 1 of our GCSE Maths Festival saw us host a Maths Amnesty. Prior to the festival we asked you to submit your most burning questions about teaching GCSE maths, how to engage students, and advice for dealing with the changes to the new curriculum. We had some great submissions and our expert Chris Curtis, from Frome Community College, was really excited to get stuck in and answer them for you! Read More

Collins GCSE Maths Festival – Problem Solving

The blog post suggests ways to help your students think differently and how they can learn to evaluate their answers critically. Read More

Collins GCSE Maths Festival – The implications of the new curriculum – how to teach Foundation tier

“The new mathematics GCSE will demand deeper and broader mathematical understanding. It will provide all students with greater coverage of key areas such as ratio, proportion and rates of change and require them to apply their knowledge and reasoning to provide clear mathematical arguments. It will focus… Read More

Did you know? Notes from the history of Maths

Credit where credit is due Abstract: This article outlines the work of Paolo Ruffini who first gave a proof of the impossibility of an algebraic solution to quintic equations. This year, 2015, will be the 250th anniversary of the birth of Paolo Ruffini (1765-1822). You can… Read More

Did you know? Notes from the history of Maths

Credit where credit is due Abstract: This article outlines the work of Paolo Ruffini who first gave a proof of the impossibility of an algebraic solution to quintic equations. This year, 2015, will be the 250th anniversary of the birth of Paolo Ruffini (1765-1822). You can… Read More

Did you know? Notes from the history of Maths

Credit where credit is due Abstract: This article outlines the work of Paolo Ruffini who first gave a proof of the impossibility of an algebraic solution to quintic equations. This year, 2015, will be the 250th anniversary of the birth of Paolo Ruffini (1765-1822). You can… Read More

A Number of New Year Resolutions

It’s that time of year: After eating too much during the festive season I’m back to the gym! No matter how well intentioned we are, surveys show that people rarely keep to their New Year’s resolutions. The gym is really busy right now, but come March I’ll be able to… Read More

What is the point of GCSE Mathematics?

Here are some mathematics learning objectives. The question is this. Are they taken from the programme of study for key stage 3 or the GCSE subject content and assessment objectives? Define percentage as “number of parts per hundred”; interpret percentages and percentage changes as a fraction or a decimal, interpret… Read More

Santa’s Maths Sack

The teacher placed Santa’s sack on the desk. Then asks one the students to take out five presents without looking into the sack. The five presents selected were all wrapped in blue paper. “There was a 50% chance of that happening” said the teacher What is the smallest number of… Read More