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Lisa Cunningham DeLauney's avatar

I'm not sure what's happening with maths on a broader scale, but my own children and their friends' experiences suggest there may be a problem. They go to a British International School, where they take iGCSEs and As and A Levels. Classes are small, yet almost everyone is struggling with Maths. And I've heard something similar in Slovene schools. I think it has to do with missing a chunk of basic maths during lock down. Do you see that in the UK, too?

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SEMH Education's avatar

Such an insane standard we expect Y6 pupils to achieve these days! I had no idea there's not much, if any, progression from Y6 to GCSE!

I think you're right, better communication between Primary and Secondary colleagues would result in a more seamless transition, not only for maths but for every subject!

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Debbie Thompson's avatar

Thank you. Lots to think about here. But as a secondary maths teacher i know that over 75 percent of students take the higher tier maths paper at age 16. Even in top sets in state schools most struggle to get the top grade. There are 3 papers and the last paper is the hardest requiring some AS maths skills for the last few questions, that's grade 9 work. Even amongst the 25 percent of students who take the 3 foundation papers grade 5 is only awarded to only 5 percent if candidates. That's tge highest grade students can achieve on the foundation tier. Please take a look at the higher gcse papers which most students take. I hope that you'll be able to see that a lot of learning is required fir students to get a grade 5 or above.

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Jon (Animated)'s avatar

This is so good Jack. I am starting to change my own thinking and love the way that you open up your ideas and the routes you take in teaching. Great piece.

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