Island School MYP Mathematics

Overview

Welcome to Island School! Years 7 to 9 at Island School follow the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB MYP).

"MYP mathematics promotes both inquiry and application, helping students to develop problem-solving techniques that transcend the discipline and that are useful in the world outside school... MYP mathematics aims to equip all students with the knowledge, understanding and intellectual capabilities to address further courses in mathematics, as well as to prepare those students who will use mathematics in their studies, workplaces and lives in general." - Middle Years Programme Mathematics Guide 2020

In MYP maths, especially in Years 7 and 8, the lessons will follow an inquiry-based approach. Students will learn about the concepts in the real-life contexts they are based. In Year 9, while lessons generally follow a similar approach, there will be also a stronger emphasis on building students' mathematical skills in preparation for their eventual IGCSE Mathematics (and Further Mathematics) exams in Year 11.

This webpage has everything you need to know about MYP Mathematics at Island School. Generally speaking, each year you will work on 6 different units, each one lasting five to seven weeks. For each of the units, you will have an assessed task. Below is a quick overview of what you will cover over the three years:

MYP maths overview.pdf

Equipment

To help you prepare for the year ahead, there are some things that you should always have with you. These are:

a book with squared paper;
a pen;
a pencil (we recommend HB or 2H, but certainly avoid the ‘B’ numbers);
an eraser;
a rule, ideally 20 cm or longer (with centimetres and millimetres);
a protractor (angle measurer);
a scientific calculator (not on your phone or laptop!);
a compass.

These should be with you at all times. Not having them in lessons is likely to cause you problems.

(A top tip - protractors are very fragile, and once they are broken they are practically useless. Keep yours inside the cover of your book to reduce the chance of accidental damage.)

Skills Based Practice

At Island School, MYP mathematics lessons, especially in Years 7 and 8, will be of a more inquiry-based nature. We do not follow a textbook. Nonetheless, here is a spreadsheet that maps out all the key skills needed for each unit.

MYP maths skills based practice (for students).xlsx

You will also be able to access the relevant links to DrFrostMaths, CorbettMaths, MyiMaths and Eedi to allow you to practice these skills. For an introduction to how to use these resources, look at the following video:

MYP maths skills based practice.mp4

Homework

Your teacher will set you homework most weeks, and it will usually be something based on the work you have been doing during recent lessons.

Sometimes there won't be any homework set, in which case you can use the time to practice the essential skills required for the lesson. See the "Skills Based Practice" section above. You may also wish to try some of the activities on Maths Is Fun (which has puzzles and games on top of worksheets).

There are plenty of other websites that you might like to look at and use, and you can find links and descriptions on the Technology page.

Assessments

In MYP maths, students will be assessed on four criteria. These are Criterion A: Knowing and understanding, Criterion B: Investigating patterns, Criterion C: Communicating and Criterion D: Applying mathematics in real-life contexts. Details on the criteria can be found here. A summary of the criteria can be found below:

maths objectives reflection.pdf

Each criterion will be assessed twice in the year. You will have six assessed tasks during the year, in some of the assessments, two criteria will be assessed together. Your assessed tasks will be reported on the Evidencer for you and your parents to see.

While each of criteria A to D is out of 8, the overall maths grade is out of 7. Below is the general grade descriptor. This should be used as a guideline only:

MYP general grade descriptors (from principles into practice p104).pdf

Your Portfolio

If you have followed the PYP programme then you will already know what a personal portfolio is. If not, it is simply a record of all the things you have done in a year. The purpose of the portfolio is for you to have a record of the important work that you have done in Maths this year so that you can look back on it in the future.

For each unit you are recommended to record notes on what you have done and keep them stored somewhere safe. You should do this using your laptop rather than pieces of paper in a file. This might include work you have done on your laptop (maybe including screenshots), handwritten work that you have scanned or photographed, or even short videos (some students have previously had their own YouTube channel).

The easiest way to make a digital portfolio is to use a word processing package. You are recommended to put it on a Google Doc but you are welcome to use Word or Pages or something different such as Google Sites or Blogger. Whatever you use, make sure it is easy for you to keep updating it as you go, and to save a record at the end of the school year.

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