Mathematics

The Maths staff at Bridge House hopes to make Maths fun, interesting and relevant for all pupils by teaching in an innovative and dynamic manner using the latest available technology. We encourage all pupils to participate in the National Maths Olympiad and a full team goes to the UCT Maths competition each year.

Bridge House embraces the new curriculum and offers the full range of Maths courses, namely: Mathematical Literacy, Core Mathematics, Mathematics Paper III and Advance Programme Mathematics. The staff are involved at a National level within the IEB structures for exam setting and curriculum development. The staff are also encouraged to lead by example and several are doing Postgraduate degrees at present.

Maths classes are streamed on Mathematical ability in the college. The philosophy behind this is that students who excel need constant academic stimulation, where as students who struggle need a safe environment where they feel comfortable to ask questions and to work at their own pace. The lower sets are smaller so that there is more personalised instruction. The Maths Department also offers support during breaks and in the afternoon and CAMI Maths is installed on all the computers.

Mathematical Literacy: Mathematical Literacy is aimed at pupils who do not wish to follow a career that requires Mathematics as a prerequisite. The course equips the students with essential mathematical knowledge for surviving in the real world. The course relies on real life contexts and teaches the students how to make decisions based on their knowledge of Mathematics. Students are taught aspects of everyday finance; they are shown how statistics can be misleading and how to correctly interpret statistical information; and they investigate spatial problems such as house design and quantity estimation.

Core Mathematics: This is the course for any student who wishes to enter into University to study a course that requires Mathematics at school level. The course covers Algebra, Introductory Calculus, Trigonometry, Transformation Geometry, Finance and Data Handling. Euclidean Geometry and Probability theory are offered in an optional third exam paper.

Advanced Programme Mathematics: This course is designed to challenge the very talented Mathematics Students. It is offered in Grades 10 - 12 . The top sets in grades 8 and 9 do regular extension work to prepare them for this course. This is a very demanding and interesting course and pupils must have excellent self-discipline to cope with the work load.