Maths

Welcome to the Maths Faculty page.

I like to think that the Mathematics faculty at St Andrews Anglican College is extremely well-rounded and that the staff are multi-faceted and skilled in many disciplines. In essence I see Mathematics as a part, an intrinsic part naturally, of life in general. No subject stands alone and I believe wholeheartedly that students should be inculcated with the credo that Mathematics is at the heart of all things, but that it is not everything.

With this credo in mind, I would like to attempt to turn my hand to the use of language as a core tool of the mathematician. Poets and literary greats, please forgive:

Enjoy the Journey

To search for meaning, nay a sine

Something to illume to world benign

For understanding is intransigent

Often steering along a tangent

A seeming simple well-planned trip

Becomes an odd-shaped Mobius strip

A distorted mirror, curved reflector

May send you on an unknown vector

But this indeed is preferential

To life that shows no differential

Between composites, pairs and primes

Nothing to divide the times

Investigate the theological

Marry it to the topological

Ensure you find a way to fix

These complements with a matrix

Follow a path of integration

Between one course and degustation

An eatery on a favourite vertex

With dishes from simple to complex

And should you take the time to count

The infinite variety and amount

Of clues laid down by Gauss and Euclid

Some overt but more well hid

To lead you on a life long journey

Where hypoten-use of all capacity

Of thought, mind and imagination

To write, think, make calculation

Dig deep in every niche and area

A shallow life is infinitely scarier

Thus heed the call and hear the chorus

The road’s not straight, it is a torus!

It is my belief that a true student of life is open to all facets of life and education. Mathematics is indeed a thing of beauty, but it is truly enhanced when seen within the context of other disciplines.

David Rudkin (HOF Mathematics)

Mathematics Class Structure Years 7-12

Years 7-9

Years 7 & 9 – One enrichment class, three parallel standard classes & one small-size support class operating on the same curriculum as the standard classes.

Year 8 – One enrichment class, two parallel standard classes & one small-size support class operating on the same curriculum as the standard classes.

Year 10

Year 10 – One enrichment class and two parallel standard classes all working on curriculum leading to Mathematics B in Year 11. One further class working on curriculum leading to Mathematics A in Year 11.

Years 11-12

Pre-Vocational Maths – Approximately 5 students in each year group.

Mathematics A – Two classes in Year 11, three classes in Year 12.

Mathematics B – Two classes in each year group.

Mathematics C – One class in each year group.

Curriculum

Year 7-10

The National Curriculum in Mathematics officially comes on line in 2012. At SAAC we introduced National Curriculum to Year 7 in 2011, with the intention of extending this to Years 8, 9 &10 in 2012. We are in the fortunate position of having had Year 7 as part of the secondary school since its inception; thus the changes we have had to make to existing curriculum have been relatively minor.

Each class has its own online page in the Learning Management System (LMS).  These detail the schedule for the current term and contain revision material and links to other useful sites/resources if applicable.

Year 11-12

All students in Year 11 and 12 must choose one of the following Mathematics courses, regardless of their OP eligibility.

Pre-Vocational Maths

• An Authority Registered subject directed towards numeracy and functional workplace number skills. This subject does not count towards an OP.

Mathematics A

• Mathematics A involves an emphasis on applying Mathematics in life-related situations. Calculators and computer software are used where appropriate. Students are expected to use appropriate mathematical language, notation and symbols to communicate their results.

Mathematics B

• Mathematics B involves an emphasis on applying mathematics both in life-related situations and in purely mathematical contexts. Calculus and Coordinate Geometry form a large part of the subject. Students are expected to communicate results effectively using appropriate mathematical notation, spelling, punctuation and grammar. Scientific calculators, graphic calculators and computer software are used where appropriate.

Mathematics C

• Mathematics C involves an emphasis on applying mathematics both in life-related situations and in purely mathematical contexts. However, the rigor and sophistication is more demanding than for Mathematics B, and there is an emphasis on mathematical proof. Students are expected to communicate results effectively using appropriate mathematical notation, spelling, punctuation and grammar. Scientific calculators, graphic calculators and computer software are used where appropriate.

Resources

All students in Years 7 to 10 are part of the one-to-one laptop program.

We have introduced new text books to Year 7 and 8; Pearson Mathematics student books. In addition to the hard copy text, students have access to on online component called Pearson Reader. This contains an online copy of the text, which also includes links to worked examples, quizzes, podcast tutorials and many other resources. Thus a proportion of each lesson will involve working with the laptop. In recognition of the fact that all examinations and assignments are not undertaken online, a significant proportion of each lesson is still devoted to pen and paper working. The ability to set work out clearly and logically is still recognised as being the foundation for any aspiring mathematician.

We use the MathsQuest Maths for Queensland series of text books to deliver the curriculum to all students from Year 9 to Year 12. This will change for Year 9-10 in 2013 with the further introduction of the Pearson Mathematics texts (9 –10). The national standardisation of senior mathematics subjects is a little further away.

All students from Year 7-10 have access to Mathletics, an online resource to help consolidate mathematical concepts, both old and new. This year, in secondary school, Mathletics is going to be used predominantly as a homework resource. Students will spend the occasional lesson in the computer laboratories at school using Mathletics to assist revision, but it is primarily meant to be a home-based consolidation/revision resource.

Click on the link below to check out Mathletics for yourself:

www.mathletics.com

Events & Competitions

Students from Years 7-12 have the opportunity to take part in competitions, both within the school and in the wider community.

We enter a Year 8 team into the Pacific Coal Maths Tournament. Teams start in regional groups but, if successful at that level, can qualify for state/national finals.

We enter teams from Year 7-12 in the Sunshine Coast Mathematics Tournament, a whole day event involving around thirty schools from the region.

Many students sit the ICAS Mathematics Competition. Whilst it is a competition, the school’s focus is on using the results diagnostically to identify trends in overall strengths and weaknesses of each cohort. This information informs and drives change to the way we address teaching each cohort.

Students in the four enrichment classes in Years 7-10 all take part in The Australian Mathematics Trust 'Maths Challenge for Young Australians'. This entails the students spending a three week period working on a set of broader problem solving tasks. The outcome is hopefully an appreciation of the infinite variety of ways there are to approach problem solving.

David Rudkin
HoF Mathematics