Mathematics

Exam Board: AQA

Grading System: 9-1

Higher Paper: Grades 9-4

Foundation Paper: Grades 5-1

Click on the Google Classroom button to see what your teachers want you to do for your home learning, revision or extended study.

Click here for revision work for students

What does revision in Maths look like?

There are some formulae and rules to memorise when revising for maths, so flashcards can be useful.

However by far the most important part of revising for maths GCSEs is doing practice questions.

How much Maths revision should my son or daughter be doing?

The quality of revision is more important than the quantity however the following guidelines may be useful:

Students should complete a past paper once every week. This is around 90 minutes worth of time spent. Students get these from Mr Shakesby, and he shares their deadlines through google classroom.
Students should access Hegarty Maths tutorial videos and do practice questions regularly. Ideally students should use the videos to master concepts each week. Each concept represents around 30 minutes of time spent.

What does my son or daughter need to be able to revise for Maths effectively?

The following things will be useful when revising for Maths:

A set of blank cards for making flashcards such as these or these.
A notebook dedicated to making notes.
Paper for doing any working out for practice questions.
A quiet space to work. (This could be during extended study in school)
Access to a device and the internet. (This could be during extended study in school)
A scientific calculator such as this, not a phone!

How will my son or daughter know their strengths and areas for development?

Following the January Mocks in Year 11, every student was given an analysis which highlighted:

A personalised list of areas of strength and gaps in their knowledge and skills.
Specific videos and exercises in Hegarty Maths that would help with each of these gaps.

Hegarty Maths

All XP students have access to Hegarty Maths . This is an online set of tutorial videos and associated practice questions.

As mentioned above, Following their mock examinations, students have been given an analysis which suggests specific tutorial videos and questions that will help students to develop their knowledge and skills.

Best practice in using Hegarty Maths is as follows:

Watch a specific tutorial video once from start to finish.
Watch again, pausing at specific points and make notes.
Complete the associated practice questions that go with the video. Have some paper to hand to do any working out.
Add to your notes if there are common mistakes.

Past Papers

During Year 10 and Year 11, students will be given access to past examination papers.

They will be asked to complete one past paper once every two weeks. Deadlines will be shared through google classroom.

Best practice in using past papers is as follows:

Use the following KWL protocol to annotate your question paper
- Underline key information in every question (What you KNOW)
- Put a box around what you are trying to find out (What you WANT to know)
- Circle any special CONDITIONS such as rules or units of measure.

Attempt every question.
If you are stuck, leave the question and come back to it.
Try the following strategies on questions when you are stuck:
- Look for parts and wholes and try to work out the relationship between them
- Try making the numbers easier
- Try drawing something that illustrates the maths in the question
- Use a model such as a bar model to illustrate the numbers

Use the marks scheme to help you to work out what you need to do
Use a Hegarty Maths Video to help you with any concepts you find difficult
When you get your paper back, highlight any mistakes and redo the questions in purple pen when you know how to do it correctly.

So how exactly can I help?

Help your son or daughter to get organised and give them a quiet space to work

Help your son or daughter to come up with a revision timetable and plan that is manageable. Remember spaced practice is better than cramming.
Check that your son or daughter is sticking to their revision timetable, or when they are not able to, that they make up the time.
Check that you son or daughter is meeting deadlines for past papers through Google Classroom.
Ask to see your son or daughter's past paper analysis and check that they are accessing Hegarty Maths targeting the specific videos that their teacher's analysis highlights.
Get your son or daughter to organise their flashcards and notes around the areas of study:
- NUMBER
- ALGEBRA
- RATIO, PROPORTION AND RATES OF CHANGE
- GEOMETRY AND MEASURES
- PROBABILITY
- STATISTICS

More details of these areas of study can be found here.

Talk to your son or daughter about their revision at the end of each study session

Even if Maths is not your own strongest subject, ask your son or daughter to explain what they have been working on, and have them explain to you how the concepts they are mastering work. You might want to ask:
- "What Maths concepts have you been working on?"
- "Can you explain to me how you got that question correct?"
- "What mistakes did you make? Do you know how to correct them? Can you explain how you would correct them please?"
- "Are there any things that you keep forgetting? Do you need to make a flashcard for that?"

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