Mathematics

Welcome to the section of the website that is devoted to the Mathematics Department! We do hope that you enjoy the information you read here which has been written in order to give you an idea of our approach to the teaching of this important subject and our successes in 2007-08. We recognise that the use of mathematical knowledge, skills and understanding is required in all other areas of the curriculum. All the mathematics teachers at the Chorister School therefore recognise the need to develop in all our pupils, whatever their ability, a positive attitude to mathematics so that they can learn to use the subject with confidence, understanding and pleasure.

Our aim is to make the teaching and learning of Mathematics an enjoyable and satisfying experience which inspires confidence in the subject.
We want every pupil to:

• develop a positive attitude to Mathematics.
• develop mathematical skills and knowledge.
• look for and identify patterns and relationships across the areas of Mathematics studied.
• develop the ability to think clearly and logically.
• enable the fulfillment of each pupil's potential.
• encourage problem solving skills where mathematics can be used in everyday situations.
• develop the ability to work both individually and cooperatively.

Most of all we want our pupils to enjoy their lessons, become confident and reach their potential.

Many of the maths teachers now have an interactive whiteboard in their classroom. Gold and Purple children have had access to this resource and it has continued to be useful in teaching mathematical concepts in an interesting way. An interactive whiteboard is also now found in Mrs Brown's, Mrs Field's and Mrs Lawrence's classroom.

Mathematic Successes

The Primary Maths Challenge which took place in November 2007 was attempted by all our pupils of Y6 age. This was the third year that the school has taken part. All the pupils who took the paper and rose to the challenge magnificently. The results were as follows:

Gold Awards:  Francesca Brown, Christopher Field, Ryan Fulton, James Hewitt, Peter Lotts, Matthew Kaley, Lexy Powell, Timothy Richmond, Isaac Walton

Silver Awards: Gabriel Parkinson*

Bronze Awards: Sunera Athauda, Alexander Brown, Brett Chapman,  Iain Choyce 

(* denotes eligible to sit the Challenge next year)

Two of the pupils, Peter Lotts and Lexy Powell, scored more than 27 marks and so had their names put forward for the National Competition. We heard by the end of the year that they had qualified for the National Finals. This was the second time that Chorister School pupils had received this honour. We were sent the finals papers and Peter and Lexy sat them under exam conditions in February 2008. When the final results came through they were placed in the top 293 pupils of the 108,000 who had taken the initial challenge as they both won a BRONZE MEDAL!  Another highlight of the competition results was that Brett Chapman, who had been very ill in the previous year, had won a certificate. We were delighted that his picture appeared in the local paper.

On Thursday 1st May 2008 there were 44 volunteers to attempt the UK Junior Maths Challenge. This was the fourth time that we had submitted entries from the school and it was the largest number of candidates. The results were absolutely amazing. Here is a list of the 25 awards that were won:

Gold Awards: Alex Goulding (best in school), Alice Brown, David Matthews

Silver Awards: Callum Bain*, Joanna Chandler, Daniel Cox, Aidan Jagger, Peter Lotts**, Ben Maddison, Lexy Powell**, Danial Saeed, Alissa Storer, Francesca Welsh

Bronze Awards: Christopher Brown, Francesca Brown**, Jacob Bushnell*, Sarah Bulmer*, Samuel Chan*, Harry Enticknap*, Kathy Liu, Sylvan Rackham*, Timothy Richmond**,Ben Spratt*, Tony Tam, Matthew Whaley*

(* denotes eligible to sit the Challenge for one * or two ** more years)

It was really exciting to see so many pupils receive awards. However, the most memorable fact is that so many volunteered to do the formal test and these included the five pupils in the 5th and 6th forms (Samuel Chan, Kathy Liu, Tony Tam, Kelly Yuen and Dylan van den Heuvel) for whom English is not their first language. The picture of the winning pupils appeared in the Northern Echo on Thursday 17th July and the Durham Times on Friday, July 18th 2008.

In the senior section of the Maths Department, one of the main aims of 2006/07 was to enter our first pupils for the IGCSE. The IGCSE examinations took place on Thursday 17th May and Friday 18th May 2007. Lyndsay Connor and John-Paul Moberly took the examinations. Both Lyndsay and John-Paul achieved a C Grade. Our first formal examination taken and passed at The Chorister School! In May 2008 five pupils took the IGCSE paper. We now had one past paper to use as practice and therefore knew to cover trigonometry as a major topic. Alice Brown, Aidan Jagger, David Matthews, Matthew Robson and Alissa Storer were all entered and took the examination on Thursday 15th and Tuesday 20th May 2008. All five took the experience in their stride and were wonderful ambassadors for the Chorister School. We were so proud of them. The local press came to take a picture and interview the pupils. On 17th August we were delighted to collect the results and find that all five pupils passed their Foundation Paper with the highest grade possible, a C.

Scholarship News

The 2007/08 academic year is the first in which Scholarships into the 1st and 4th form were held. The scholarship examinations took place on Thursday 6th March 2008. Mathematics was one of the papers sat by Y2 and Y5 aged pupils. All the pupils entered made excellent attempts at the maths paper. Further work will go into enhancing and perfecting the content of the scholarship paper in order to ensure that the correct scholarship choices can continue to be made.

We are also able to award another scholarship that is specifically for Mathematics. Mark Julian Smith was a very talented ex-pupil. He tragically died very young and we are honoured that his parents have decided to award mathematics scholarship in his name.

Mr and Mrs Smith have generously donated a large sum of money to fund a maths award for Y7 aged pupil(s) for their final year in school. In order to make this award open to all Y7 pupils the final decision will be based on a test that all eligible pupils sit together with their mark in the UK Maths Challenge. In addition, there is the Mark Julian Smith Memorial Trophy which will be awarded to the pupil who performs the best in the UK Maths Challenge.

The first ever Mark Julian Smith scholarships were awarded to: Callum Bain, Joanna Chandler and Danial Saeed. The first holder of the Mark Julian Smith Memorial Trophy is: Alex Goulding.

I hope that this section of the website gives you an idea of the enjoyment that comes from studying maths in the Chorister School. We would be delighted to answer any specific questions you might have and to show you around our department. We can be contacted by telephone (0191 3842935) and by email.