Our aim

Our philosophy is rooted in creating confidence in maths. A firmly positive attitude to complex and unfamiliar problems means the difference between enjoying and enduring maths, and ultimately whether or not a student achieves his or her potential. Too many young people dismiss maths subjects as ‘for other people’. We understand that confidence in maths is not innate and aim to open students’ eyes to the wonderful world of pure maths and to the many and varied applications of maths in the sciences and beyond.

Our teaching techniques are tailored to this philosophy, from ensuring the right balance between the teacher talking through examples and students tackling problems themselves, to planning plenty of opportunity for students to interact 1:1 with the teacher while they work independently. Perhaps most importantly, we always encourage students to view making mistakes as a hugely valuable part of the learning process: they are much more likely to understand and remember the right method having attempted it themselves, particularly if they initially got it wrong.

Students leave The Perse with a high degree of numeracy – essential wherever life takes them. They learn to appreciate the difference between an answer and a solution, using their knowledge, skills and intuition to select the most appropriate maths to bring to bear on any question. We help them develop rigorous working habits, instilling the importance of writing proper solutions and making judicious use of computers.

Above all we encourage them to explore and broaden their maths while they are at the school, and inspire and equip them to discover more when they move on to the next stage of their education.

FAQs

How can I help my child prepare for the entrance test?
Practice tests and syllabi are available here. The Year 7 test is based on the Year 5 syllabus and the Year 9 test is based on the Year 7 syllabus. The questions test problem solving and mathematical comprehension as well as standard procedures.

How many maths lessons do pupils get?
There are eight lessons per fortnight in the Lower School and seven to nine per fortnight in the Middle School.

When do you set in Year 7?
We set at half term in the Michaelmas term.

How do you decide on setting in year 7?
Year 7 pupils sit a test around the middle of October. Sets are then decided based on the judgement of the pupil’s teacher and their test results. The teacher’s judgement will be based on what they have observed in lessons and homework over the first half term.

When do you set in Year 9?
Initial sets are formed on the basis of the entrance test or teacher judgement and Year 8 results. The setting is then adjusted after an October test and then again at the end of the year.

How big are the sets?
Top sets have around 26 to 28 pupils. Lower sets are around 15 in Lower School and around 10 in Middle School.

How many sets are there?
There are three or four in each half in the Lower School and five in each half in the Middle School.

How do you extend the top end of each class?
Extension is achieved through careful teacher planning. In lessons this extension might consist of the use of enrichment booklets, the teacher’s own choices of extension topics or the chance to investigate an area of interest in more detail. Generally enrichment doesn’t come from advancing through material more quickly, but from exploring it more widely and in greater depth.

What other extension work is available?
For more information, click on the dropdown options below for Providing Stretch and Beyond the Curriculum.

What support is available?
We run twice weekly maths surgeries with both staff and Sixth Form students helping. This is open to everyone and one-to-one help is guaranteed.

How is technology used to support teaching and learning of maths at The Perse?
We have access to Chromebooks and ICT suites to get students using relevant software in their studies in the Lower School. Pupils in the Middle School and Sixth Form bring their own devices to school in order to make this access even more efficient. Online learning software such as Blutick, Activelearn and Integralmaths all provide useful resources to help pupils make progress. The learning of software such as Excel is integrated into the curriculum in lower years and we also encourage pupils to use Desmos, Geogebra and Wolfram software to support their learning. Teachers frequently use such software to support the exploration of new ideas in lessons.

Can my child take early entry maths at the Perse?
We don’t enter students early. Some students will take the AQA Level 2 Certificate in further maths qualification at the end of Year 11 along with their GCSE.

Learning journey - Years 7-9

In Years 7 to 9 we focus on breadth, covering ground in all topics and then building on that knowledge the following year.  This ensures students enjoy variety, and has the advantage of allowing time, over several years, for all the main concepts to bed in effectively.  When the topic is revisited and extended the following year, students effectively revise work they have previously covered to fix their knowledge firmly before deepening their understanding. In Year 7 we add the topic of bases to the more orthodox topics that appear later on in the GCSE syllabus.

Learning journey - GCSE

GCSE introduces extra topics and gives students their first glimpse of high level maths, where the understanding required is more subtle.

Some students will start learning material for the Level 2 Certificate in Further Maths in year 10 and will take an exam at the end of year 11.

Providing stretch

We continually set extension tasks for all students who wish to take their learning beyond the classroom, which might involve exploring what Descartes has to do with our modern use of coordinates or how probability is used in the Schrödinger’s Cat theory.

Our drop-in surgeries, where students can concentrate on specific aspects of maths with teachers or Sixth Form students, are very popular. We encourage wider reading, providing our own suggestions and encouraging pupils to explore the University of Cambridge reading list.

We enter and prepare our students for three major national maths challenges each year: the UK Junior Maths Challenge, the UK Intermediate Maths Challenge and the UK Senior Maths Challenge. These competitions give students the chance to tackle questions beyond the confines of the more rigid exam syllabus and are a great preparation for the International Maths Olympiad. In 2016, two Perse students represented the UK in the Balkan Mathematical Olympiad (BMO), and were selected for the UK squad for the International Mathematical Olympiad.  In 2017, six pupils qualified for the BMO2 (of which 100 pupils qualify nationally) and four students were awarded distinctions.  One student represented the UK team in the Romanian Master of Mathematics competition and was selected as a reserve for the International Mathematics Olympiad team.

Beyond the classroom

The MacLaurin Society meets weekly, when either students or staff give a talk on a maths topic of their choice. Students of all ages are welcome and younger students do attend and indeed give talks themselves. STEM club runs for older students intending to study a STEM subject at university to help them make the links between the different subjects.  The Maths Olympiad Club also meets weekly and is an opportunity for keen mathematicians from all year groups to get together and work on challenging problems.  We discuss common strategies and tackle questions from UKMT Maths Challenges and Olympiads.

Our ’42’ society programme of lunchtime lectures includes topics of interest to mathematicians. In 2016 we welcomed Professor Mike Cates, Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge (a position held by Sir Isaac Newton and Professor Stephen Hawking), who presented the topic of ‘Bulletproof Custard: Fluids that stop flowing when you push them too hard.’

In addition to the UK Mathematics Trust individual maths challenges, students take part in three team maths competitions organised by the UKMT and the local Further Maths Network – competitions in which Perse teams have had considerable success.