2025-2026 Course Guide

MATHEMATICS

The British Columbia Math curriculum encourages students to develop, demonstrate, and apply mathematical understanding through a variety of ways. Students will be engaged in problem solving experiences and learn to connect their mathematical competencies and reflect on their learning.

There are multiple pathways for mathematics and students should be aware that their choices of math courses will impact their post-graduation plans. An additional consideration is that the post-secondary institutions in BC have different entrance requirements with regards to the high school mathematics courses. Students should consult University or College course calendars to determine entrance requirements for their specific programs.

Students who successfully complete any grade 10 and any grade 11 math course will meet British Columbia’s graduation requirements.

Math Contests Claremont has a strong tradition of participation and success in math competitions. We encourage students to take advantage of these opportunities from grade 9 forward. Writing math contests becomes a potential item to add to admissions applications. Much exploration into math contests will take place at weekly Math Club meetings however, participation in Math Club is not required to write math contests.

Course Selection FAQ

“Which math course is best suited to my child?”

While there is no rule about which math course is right for each student, the decision can be made easier by thinking about their future education and career plans. If your child enjoys working on projects and hands-on activities, or intends to pursue a trade or technical job, then the Workplace pathway might be the right choice. If your child is planning further study in the Arts or Humanities, then Foundations Math is likely the right choice. Students interested in math, science, business, etc, in post-secondary should take the Pre-Calculus pathway. There is also nothing to preclude a student from taking more than one path over their time in secondary school.

“What happens if we change our mind about the pathway decision that we made before the start of this year?”

Because the pathways were designed to give students different skills to complement their mathematical competencies and knowledge for different careers and post-secondary paths, they were not designed to allow for lateral movement between the pathways.

For example, this means that a student who took only Workplace Math 10 would likely not have the skills and competencies to allow them to be successful in either Foundations of Math 11 or Pre-Calculus 11. It would be in the student’s best interest to take Foundations/Pre-Calculus 10 before either grade 11 level course.

If, after high school, a student changes career paths or realizes that they need Pre-Calculus 11 or 12 instead of the Foundations courses they may have taken, colleges and universities will offer these or equivalent courses for upgrading.

MATH 9

There are two options in Grade 9. Students should be recommended by their Grade 8 teacher for the appropriate course. Regardless of choice in grade 9, either grade 10 math class may be selected.

MATHEMATICS 9

Math 9 offers students a chance to build skills and mathematical competency in many key fields of mathematics. The big ideas are centred around operations with numbers and applying them to algebraic situations, extending arithmetic to rational numbers, working with linear relations, understanding and applying proportional reasoning, and analyzing and representing data.

LINEAR MATHEMATICS 9 (YEARLONG)

This course is designed to help students who would otherwise struggle to succeed in Math 9 over one semester, and/or who will require stronger background skills for success in grade 10 and beyond. This course is not designed for students with a strong background in math. Linear Math 9 is an organized and well-paced course built to create success for students who can work consistently on the concepts. Basic skills are reviewed and reinforced before moving on to the competencies required for grade 9. Linear Math 9 takes up two spots in a student’s timetable – one in first semester and one in second semester.

Linear Math 9 allows students to take either grade 10 level math course.

MATH 10

There are two options in grade 10. Students should be recommended by their grade 9 teacher for the appropriate course. The grade 10 math class is an important choice that should consider a student’s goals after high school, current level of competency with math, and willingness to work consistently and at a level that will allow them to be successful.

WORKPLACE MATHEMATICS 10

Workplace Math 10 allows students to continue to build skills and mathematical competency while keeping the material covered more practice and realistic. The big ideas are centred around proportional reasoning and ratios, measurement, making connections with numbers and their importance, and continued work with data and analyzing relationships within data.

FOUNDATIONS & PRE-CALCULUS MATHEMATICS 10

Foundations & Pre-Calculus Math 10 can be a very challenging course for many students. The material covered in the course takes a big step forward from the concepts delivered in Math 9. Students continue to build their competency with numbers, but the material is more complex and abstract. The big ideas focus on continued work with algebra, powers and exponents and their connection to polynomials, meaning and representations of linear relations, proportional reasoning, indirect measurement, and the analysis of various situations to uncover hidden meanings or patterns.

MATH 11

There are three options in grade 11. Students completing Workplace Math 10 move onto Workplace Math 11. Students completing Foundations/Pre-Calculus Math 10 will transition to either Foundations of Math 11 or Pre-Calculus 11. The completion of any math 11 class (and a math 10 class) will meet the BC graduations requirements for mathematics.

Note: Students may take more than one pathway as goals, interests, and requirements change.

WORKPLACE MATHEMATICS 11

Workplace Math 11 is designed to provide students with an opportunity to continue working on more practical and realistic applications of mathematics. The course will have students focus on proportional reasoning in terms of ratios and rates, making smart financial decisions, measurement of surface areas and volumes, improving confidence with numeracy skills, and learning to interpret data from real world information.

FOUNDATIONS OF MATHEMATICS 11

Foundations of Math 11 keeps most of the rigour of Foundations/Pre-Calculus Math 10, but concentrates on fewer concepts as students expand their learning. The big ideas relate to proportional reasoning, optimization problems, logical reasoning, and statistical analysis. Students will find the course challenging, while at the same time there will be less abstract mathematics than in the Pre-Calculus 11 class.

PRE-CALCULUS 11

Pre-Calculus 11 takes the principles built up in Foundations/Pre-Calculus Math 10 and either builds further on the concepts or uses them to explore new ones. The content of the course will advance a student’s understanding of algebra, proportional reasoning, powers, radicals, and polynomials. It also introduces quadratic relationships and the associated problem-solving skills. This course is meant to begin preparing students for continued studies in science and mathematics and students should consider this when enrolling. Most topics in the course are very theoretical and abstract in nature.

PRE-CALCULUS 11 - Linear

Pre-Calculus 11 takes the principles built up in Foundations/Pre-Calculus Math 10 and either builds further on the concepts or uses them to explore new ones. The content of the course will advance a student’s understanding of algebra, proportional reasoning, powers, radicals, and polynomials. It also introduces quadratic relationships and the associated problem-solving skills. This course is meant to begin preparing students for continued studies in science and mathematics and students should consider this when enrolling. Most topics in the course are very theoretical and abstract in nature.

Pre-Calculus 11 - Linear will operate on an "every second day model" affording the student a study block every second day for the full year.

MATH 12

Students are only required to take up to grade 11 math to graduate but many post-secondary programs will require one of the grade 12 courses. Requirements may vary from one college or university to the next, so please do some research on admissions requirements before choosing a pathway.

Note: Students may take more than one pathway as goals, interests, and requirements change.

APPRENTICESHIP MATHEMATICS 12

Apprenticeship Math 12 is a continuation of Workplace 11 building on past skills as well as introducing new ones. The big ideas relate back to proportional reasoning, measurement, and finance, as well as introducing design and planning, transferring mathematical competencies between related topics, and precision and accuracy of measurement. At this time, there are very few programs or organizations that require Apprenticeship Math 12.

FOUNDATIONS OF MATHEMATICS 12

Foundations of Math 12 is a continuation of the previous course. New concepts include using probabilistic thinking to analyze chance and uncertainty, modelling different sets of data using various equations and patterns, and applications of geometry to spatial relationships. There will be continued study into financial literacy and decision making. As a grade 12 math class, students will be challenged by the material but not likely overwhelmed by the volume of work.

PRE-CALCULUS 12

Pre-Calculus 12 is a very challenging math class. Students taking Pre-Calculus 12 will likely be continuing on with their study of math, science, business, engineering, and/or medicine after reaching post-secondary. The big ideas of the course are abstract and theoretical in nature. Students will be expected to take their knowledge of mathematics and apply it to various problem-solving scenarios. The course will focus on functions (including trigonometric and logarithmic), equation solving, and transformations.

PRE-CALCULUS 12 - Linear

Pre-Calculus 12 is a very challenging math class. Students taking Pre-Calculus 12 will likely be continuing on with their study of math, science, business, engineering, and/or medicine after reaching post-secondary. The big ideas of the course are abstract and theoretical in nature. Students will be expected to take their knowledge of mathematics and apply it to various problem-solving scenarios. The course will focus on functions (including trigonometric and logarithmic), equation solving, and transformations.

Pre-Calculus 12 - Linear will operate on an "every second day model" affording the student a study block every second day for the full year.

CALCULUS 12

Calculus 12 is an introductory course within this branch of mathematics. Students will be introduced to foundational principles of limits, rate of change problems, continuity, derivatives and integrals. The entire course is theoretical and abstract in nature and will present almost all students with a serious academic challenge. Students continuing on with math and science in post-secondary should consider the topic of calculus an absolute must.

MATH 100

(Dual Credit – Camosun College)

Math 100 is a first semester calculus course that is offered in partnership with Camosun College. By successfully completing Math 100, students will earn a fully-transferable first year university credit in addition to high school credit for Calculus 12. Students need to have completed Pre-Calculus 12 in their grade 11 (or earlier) year with at least a B prior to enrolling in this course. The course is only offered in the first semester. Students who take Math 100 are required to pay a registration fee to Camosun College.