Maths at Stringer

The Maths department is fully committed to the Every Child Matters agenda. In particular we:

Our approach to teaching Maths has proved highly successful. Our Results for 2011 were 84% of students achieving A*-C in Maths, a full 10% over any other school in the Authority.

Moreover, our approach in teaching ensures that every child succeeds - we put the same amount of effort into a potential A* student or a student who will have achieved well to gain a grade E as we do into a student who is targeting a grade C. This means that 84% of our children last year made at least 3 levels of progress during their time at Stringer.

Grade

%

Cummulative %
A* 8.6 8.6
A 19.0 27.7
B 24.8 52.4
C 30.8 83.3

The following provides a summary of our results over the past few years:

 

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004
Maths A*-C 83.5 71.2 70.7 74.2 66.7 66 62.3 53.1
Brighton & Hove 60 56 53 52 50 48 48 43
National N/A 58 57 56 57 54 52 50

Setting and Tiering Policy

The aim of the department is to set all children in a way which improves teaching and learning throughout all maths lessons, and hence maximises the potential and creates the best learning experience for each child. The number of teaching hours per fortnight is as follows:

Setting Structure

Setting currently comprises 7 ability levels as follows:

The sets are hierarchical, although there will always be an overlap between sets. Moreover, sets are not taught according to a particular syllabus for that set. Teachers teach the group according to the ability of the students. Hence two set 2a classes may be targeting different levels.

Movement Between Sets

Regular tests are undertaken throughout a student's career in the school to allow objective assessment of progress across the whole year group. The results of these tests are used to inform (but not to dictate) movements of students between sets. The aim is that each child should be in the set which allows him to maximise his performance. Therefore whilst test results provide important evidence of the need to move sets, this can only be used to support the judgment of the class teacher. In addition to the test result and the teacher assessment, account will be taken of prior performance and prior set moves. The aim will be both that students are not moved as a result of an unusually good/poor performance in a test. It is also not desirable for borderline students to 'yo-yo' between sets. Set changes are not limited to resetting tests, and may be agreed with the relevant Head of Department at any time if it becomes clear that this will be in the best interests of the child.

Test Schedule

The current test schedule is as follows: