- Calculators – Now is the time more than ever to check that the students have an appropriate calculator. They’ll need to know how to use it and be confident doing so. Do they know where to find that pi button for example!? Send a letter home to parents and make sure students can easily buy them in school. Schools should be able to offer a better rate than you can buy them online or in the supermarkets.
- Confidence is key! Maths can be very challenging for so many students, and now is the time more than ever to focus on things that the students are doing well. Can you give them small and accessible revision tasks that give them opportunities to succeed? It may just give them the confidence to have a go at that 5 marker that they’d usually leave blank!
- Practice, Practice, Practice. Maths is best learnt by doing Maths. We’re lucky to have a wealth of past papers available online, with video tutorials on YouTube that support students whatever time of the day (or night) they’re studying! Whilst it may seem obvious, it’s worth checking that they know their exam board, and even better if you can print off some papers for them as it’s one less barrier to overcome. There are lots of practice papers with QR codes linked on the front of the paper that take students straight to a video walkthrough. 1st Class Maths on YouTube is great for this- and his practice papers are always a hit with the students for being well produced and well explained.
- Common misconceptions. There is plenty of content that appears each year, and chances are, we already know the errors that the students are likely to make. Check in on these skills regularly. Most students will tell you that 0.3 multiplied by 0.2 is 0.6 instead of 0.06! Chances are, most will also think that 100 to the power of a half is 50, rather than square rooting to get 10. Ask these quick questions as students are coming into the classroom or lining up for lunch. It may just be the mark that makes all the difference.
- Use mock results wisely. Not only do mock exams give students a feel for how the real exams will be, but they also give us a great opportunity to see where the students need more support. Do students know the areas that they found tricky in the mocks? Do they get personalised feedback? You can download QLA spreadsheets (Question Level Analysis) for almost every past exam from the exam boards and from homework platforms like Sparx too. Once the data is inputted, not only does it give individual printouts to give to students, but also allows class teachers to spot patterns where groups of students lost marks.
- Make support targeted. Rather than running generic revision sessions after school, pick a key topic and invite students along based on whether it is an area they need support on. Sending a letter home to parents in advance will help with student attendance, and lets the student know how much you personally want to help them.
Chances are, you’re already doing everything you possibly can to have happy, confident Year 11s who love learning Maths. Let the passion you have for the subject speak for itself, and the rest will always fall into place. I hope you find these tips helpful and wish you all the best for the Summer exams!
About Hannah
Hannah Kettle (@hannahkettlemaths) is a Head of Maths, GCSE Examiner and GCSEPod Author.
You can find her doing LIVE GCSE Revision on TikTok every Wednesday and Sunday evening with further maths tutorial videos on YouTube.