In this course, students are prepared for AQA GCSE Mathematics (8300). The following ten units are studied sequentially across Years 10 and 11. This GCSE has a Foundation tier (grades 1 – 5) and a Higher tier (grades 4 – 9). Where the key skills listed below are shown in bold, they relate only to the Higher tier.
| Unit | Content |
|---|---|
| Year 10 Unit 1 Similarity | This unit builds on and extends students' experience of enlargement and similarity, and teaches them to solve problems with similar triangles and trigonometry. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 10 Unit 2 Developing algebra | Students learn about equations and inequalities at KS3, and this unit provides them with a context in which to revisit and reinforce standard techniques and to deepen their understanding. Students are taught to solve simultaneous equations using both algebraic and graphical methods. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 10 Unit 3 | This unit provides a formal introduction to bearings, arcs, sectors and spheres while revisiting other materials and making links across the mathematics curriculum. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 10 Unit 4
| This unit builds on KS3 learning about ratio, fractions, percentages and probability. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 10 Unit 5 Delving into data | This unit develops students' understanding of collection, representation and the use of summary statistics to describe data. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 10 Unit 6 | This unit develops students' understanding of prime factorisation and associated number content such as HCF and LCM. Students’ knowledge of sequences is extended to include surds and how to find the formula for a quadratic sequence. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 10 Unit 7 Algebra | This unit teaches students to expand, factorise and solve both linear and quadratic equations. Students’ knowledge of how to change the subject of a formula is revised and extended to include more complex formula. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 11 Term 1 | During this term students build on their understanding of simplifying algebraic expressions involving indices, including negative and fractional indices. This unit also develops and deepens students’ knowledge of graphs, both linear and non-linear. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 11 Term 2 | This unit teaches students how to calculate with algebraic fractions, introduces the concept of formal function notation and builds on the students understanding of how to prove something algebraically. The unit then moves on to teaching students how to construct and interpret distance/time graphs. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 11 Term 3 | Students develop their multiplicative reasoning in a variety of contexts, from simple scale factors through to complex equations involving direct and inverse proportion. As the term progresses students will consolidate their knowledge of angle facts and develop increasingly complex chains of reasoning to solve geometric problems. Students extend their knowledge of circle theorems. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
| Year 11 Term 4 | During this term students consolidate and extend their understanding of transformations, describing as well as performing these transformations. Students use their understanding of algebra and geometry to support and construct arguments and proofs. They make and use connections between different parts of mathematics to solve problems. Key skills developed:
Assessment: Students undertake self-assessment and receive verbal feedback from the teacher every lesson. Summative assessment takes place at the end of the unit. In addition, students complete twice-yearly summative assessments which assess their retention of several units. |
