Maths A Level - Dd can't keep up with the Asian Students

If I was paying £££ for a private school I'd be pretty fucked off that my child was being taught A level maths by a psychology graduate

Yes, but that is the case for private schools. Teachers don't have to have a relevant degree. They just hire who they want. Obviously sometimes this is very high calibre teachers. But not always and they don't have to comply with the requirements that state schools have.

[My dad spent his whole career teaching at a very posh private school in London. His degree was in Physics, he taught Physics, but in the later years also had to teach Biology (he hadn't even done O level) and also Geology (is that even a subject at school?)]

Sadly an A at maths GCSE is just a mediocre grade*

To achieve an A at maths is not particularly hard, it does not show a great ability in Mathematics. I know several 'average' children who could have done the 'old' maths gcse at age 12/13 and got an A without to much hassle.

Purple / noble - yes I can totally see how having a degree in physics or engineering or something related could work. But Psychology does indeed seem a stretch!

The majority of maths teachers don't have a maths degree. You don't need one to train as a maths teacher, just a degree with a significant proportion of maths. Psychology can be mathsy, but it's also possible to do a foundation course to get your maths up to scratch before training.

Of course if it's an independent school, the teacher doesn't even have to be qualified, let alone maths-qualified.

My dd2 is doing Maths A-level at an international school in Asia.
There are 14 in her class, only three girls and she is the only European girl (plus two European boys).
Like your DD she got an A* at GCSE

She is struggling, she got a D for her AS, and is resitting in June alongside her A2. She needs a B to get on her preferred Engineering degree.
We are fortunate though that her teachers are very good, but the classes move very fast and she says she will often be the only one who doesn't get it.

But it is the teacher/dept at fault, they need to teach all the students (not just the most able) - this is true whether you are paying fees or not.
If you get no joy from the teacher, go to the HOD or, if an independent school, the next level up, who will be the head if it's a small school, or if it's a bigger school like ours will be called Director of Studies/Curriculum or something like that.

what2

Was thinking exactly the same.

A* is mediocre? Doesn't even make sense.

I am completely horrified that your daughter is being taught by someone who doesn't even have a maths degree.

There are other subjects that link well to teaching maths (I'm a physics graduate who also teaches A level maths) but psychology is a stretch. As Nobel says, schools are desperate.

I am completely horrified that your daughter is being taught by someone who doesn't even have a maths degree. That is INSANE. As others have said, it's a huge jump from GCSE to A-Level. This teacher sounds awful and like he's coasting on the ability and work ethic of the kids in his class.

You need to get your daughter some extra support and get her working at full steam but you also need to complain to the school. They may act like they are doing her a favour by giving her a bursary but actually she would be better off returning to a state school with a competent teacher.

And yes, I can absolutely believe the overseas Asian pupils will be miles ahead. I don't doubt it for a second. Their whole attitude to learning is different from British kids - they place enormous value on education and their families have incredibly high expectations, especially if they are paying for them to come to a British school. I can only imagine how horrified their parents would be to know that they are paying a fortune in fees for their children to teach the teacher!

Sadly an A* at maths GCSE is just a mediocre grade

I think you need to talk to the school about the teacher.

But your DD should look online. The daughter of a friend of mine was refused entry to her school's A Level Maths course and therefore did AS level online. When she got an A*, the school suddenly found a place for her for A2.

There's a severe shortage of maths teachers. Even if you tell the school he is rubbish, and they admit that he is rubbish, he might be the best/only teacher they can get.

My school (good high-achieving state school) advertised for a maths teacher last week, we had one candidate and they were rubbish. We will readvertise, but in the end we need a body in front of the class.

That said I'm getting very frustrated with my Y12s at the moment. They don't do the homework, then say it was because they didn't get it, and when I ask 'so what did you do about it? Look at the textbook? Go on the Internet? Go to the maths support session? Email me?' and they just go 'er, didn't think of that. I've not done it.'

If I was paying £££ for a private school I'd be pretty fucked off that my child was being taught A level maths by a psychology graduate

The jump from GCSE to A-level maths is reknowned to be huge.
GCSE maths is not very difficult to get top grades in if you are a capable mathematician - it then comes as a shock to those students who haven't been used to putting in loads of extra study to be able to achieve good marks not, not talking about dd1 at all there
Doesn't sound like the teacher is very good though, and i think that should be raised with head of department, considering what you have said.

DD rubbish maths teacher for GCSE was qualified in PE...

Sadly an A* at maths GCSE is just a mediocre grade, hopefully the new 9 will be a better reflection of ability.

Consider moving your DD into a state school that has a better maths department, sounds like she needs to catch up big time but school just isn't interested or able to do so.

There is a big jump from GCSE to A-level and it is not uncommon for even A* kids to struggle. The difference between getting a poor grade and a good grade at A-level is how much work you put in outside of lessons. If she's not going on mymaths and she isn't going to the maths clinic, then simply put she is not doing enough work. She can blame the teacher, she can blame the other kids, but ultimately, she needs to pull her finger out. Mymaths is one of a billion internet resources. Has she googled? Looked at YouTube videos? Khan academy? Presumably she's got a textbook? How many past papers has she completed? The mark schemes are available online.

Have the Asian students just arrived from their home countries? It's likely that the curriculum there is more rigorous than ours (although I'm happy to be corrected by anyone that actually knows about maths teaching in Korea, China and Thailand) so they've covered the material before. If not, it looks like your dd has ended up in a particularly able maths group and the nationalities of the students really aren't relevant in the slightest. If she's always been the brightest maybe she's finding that difficult?

Many students real struggle with maths a level-it's a massive jump from GCSE and sometimes (particularly female) students lose their confidence when they come up against something they can't do for the first time ever.

A tutor is a good idea. Your dd could try the clinic-the teacher could be better in smaller groups than en masse. It often takes a while for some students to "get it" with certain maths concepts but once they drop into place they can answer almost any question relating to them. If your dd gets a bit of extra support from somewhere she could very likely turn things around.

If some of the other students are 3 years ahead, then they would be 2nd year University level.
Is that really the case?

Regardless, she is on an A level course and A level maths is what she should be taught. So the teacher should be teaching at sixth form level.

How about a tutor to make sure she's on track for the exams and knows the syllabus?