Mathematics Department

Introduction

The Mathematics Department has been considered for a long time one of the leading departments in the School and one with a reputation for excellence. The staff in the Department have high expectations and are committed to supporting all boys to ensure that they achieve their full potential. This is very much the case across the ability range, and the high standards are reflected in the results in public examinations.   

The Department is well served by an experienced team of eight full time mathematics teachers and one part time teacher. They also contribute greatly in many other co-curricular areas including rugby, rowing, swimming, CCF, soccer, badminton, cricket, indoor climbing, and, of course, the Maths Club.   

The members of the Department and their rooms are as follows: 

S4   Mr Collins - Head of Department

S3   Mr Allen – Senior Assistant

S8   Mr Ternahan – In charge of External Examinations

S1   Mr Douglas

S5   Mr Hedley

S9   Mrs Rogers (part time)

S6   Miss Gick

S10 Mr Archibald

S7   Dr McIvor         

Details of classes   

When boys first enter the School in Year 8 they are put in mathematics classes which correspond with their Houses (Dill, Jones, Kelvin, Larmour, Pirrie and Stevenson) and each class has six periods a week.    

Year 9 follows a similar pattern with six periods a week but the classes are divided into two house groups  (X - Dill, Jones, and Kelvin, Y -  Larmour, Pirrie and Stevenson) and then streamed into 9MX1, 9MX2 and 9MX3 and  9MY1, 9MY2 and 9MY3.In Year 10 boys have five periods of mathematics a week and are streamed into six maths sets.   

All boys in Year 11 and Year 12 study modular GCSE Mathematics using CCEA’s examination specification. The first of the two modules is taken at the end of Year 11. The top three classes in Year 12, around 90 pupils, take on the more challenging GCSE Additional Mathematics.    

In the Sixth Form the subject of Mathematics is extremely popular with over 50 boys opting to take the subject at each of the two levels, AS and A2.  There is also a small class who take A level Mathematics in one year, followed by a second and more  demanding A level, Further Mathematics, in Upper Sixth.     

The external examination results for the Department are of a high standard and they are detailed below for the last three years. 

Examination results given as cumulative percentages    

GCSE MATHEMATICS  

A LEVEL MATHEMATICS  

Further Mathematics   

Other information  

The Department also takes part in the annual UK Mathematical Challenge at Junior, Intermediate and Senior level. A glance into the Dining Hall on a Thursday afternoon in early November would have revealed some 80 boys earnestly tackling the Senior Challenge.

As well as these individual competitions the Mathematics Department enters pupils in the Maths Team Challenge at Senior and Junior levels.  In 2009 our Junior team finished as champions of Northern Ireland for the second year in a row and again travelled to the London for the UK finals.