St Mary's Calne

We aim to make the subject accessible and enjoyable for all pupils, whatever their starting point.  A host of Mathematical activities are run throughout the year for pupils of all ages and ability levels, including UKMT Mathematical Challenges, the Inter-Company Mathematics Challenge for the Fourth Forms, visits to Techniquest for the Mathamagic show and a variety of lectures and masterclasses, some in school and others at the University of Bath or further afield.  We benefit from a close association with the government-sponsored Further Mathematics Support Programme which organises some excellent courses for pupils in the UIV Form and beyond.  Further, through the Independent State School Partnership (ISSP), we have enjoyed many activities in partnership with the North Wilts federation schools.

The Mathematics department promotes the consistency of mathematical learning across the curriculum.  Continued close liaison with other departments is aimed at enabling girls to use and apply Mathematics effectively in all their subject areas.

GCSE course

Currently, we are teaching the OCR course Specification A (Code J562). All exams are in the second year of the course. Most enter at the Higher Tier, aiming for grades A* to D, but those who experience particular difficulty are able to transfer to the Foundation Tier (up to grade C).  Only the tier of entry in the final module determines the overall level, so girls may count marks attained at different tiers in the final aggregation.

Our most gifted mathematicians are assigned to Express sets and they work towards GCSE in their LV Form year.  The following year they have the opportunity to begin the AS Mathematics course and may do the Core 1 examination (half of the AS Level pure mathematics content) at the end of this year.

OCR Mathematics Specification A

GCE AS and A Levels

Mathematics is a popular subject at A Level with almost one half of the LVI Form taking up Mathematics or Mathematics and Further Mathematics.  Girls who are thinking of reading Mathematics at university may also work on a supervised extended project (EPQ) of their choice and we help to prepare those who have made Oxbridge applications for the entrance examinations and interviews.

Currently we prepare students for the Edexcel course which consists of six units for Mathematics and twelve for Mathematics and Further Mathematics. Girls doing both subjects take most of their AS and A Level Mathematics units in the LVI Form and their Further Mathematics units in the UVI Form.