Maths teachers? failed Foundation... she's gutted

[boschy]

oh god, DD1, Y12, sat Foundation Maths before Christmas, and was optimistic of a C - but she didnt get it.

she's already sat Higher 4 times, and school finally said she could do Foundation in Y12 (she wanted to do foundation from the start).

so now its Foundation again in the summer... do I get her a tuor now? cant really afford it tbh. or do I go and ask for a meeting with the maths dept so see what they say?

poor old DD1, she's absolutely gutted.

Definitely get a meeting with the maths department. They may be able to buddy her up with someone or provide an extra half an hour tuition somewhere in the week.

Is she having lessons at school?

How far away from a C was she? If she just missed out then maybe just lessons at school will be enough, if she is proactive in addressing her weak areas.

If she sat Edexcel, the school should be able to log onto ResultsPlus and give her a breakdown of exactly where she lost marks, giving her a good place to start. I don't know if other exam boards offer similar, it would be worth checking.

If she missed it by a lot, then a tutor might be the way forward.

Sorry to hear this, she must be gutted.

But why on earth did the school make her take the higher paper 4 times? That sounds utter madness.

I would meet with the school - has she been having revision lessons at school to help with the re-take?
Agree that obtaining a copy of her paper to see where she lost marks is a good idea. If it's not possible to do this on-line you can send off for a printed copy (needs to be done through the school). The school will also advise about whether a re-mark is possible if she was close to the grade boundary.
The only other point to note is that because the questions are "easier" on the Foundation paper which covers grades G to C the mark needed to obtain a grade C will be higher than on a Higher paper which covers grades C to A*.

Ask school for copy of marked scripts (have to pay for these) so she can see where she lost marks and work especially on those topics for next time.

It's generally thought that it's easier to get a C on the higher paper than on the foundation one. Sorry if that's no help.

I would look for a tutor-go for personal recommendations if possible, as agencies aren't terribly fussy who they get.

My dm tutors, and had never failed to get someone up a grade at least. The thing is an hour a week (or a fortnight) going over what they find hard rather than working with a group, being able to explain things in a different way, gives both confidence and more knowledge.

My son is Y11 and in a similar situation, doing foundation maths - at the moment he's a 'strong' D and we've been told that a C is not beyond his grasp. This is fantastic for him as he has always struggled with maths.

He has a tutor and the main thing that has helped him is doing lots of past papers, you can print them off online. This shows him what type of questions will come up and the area's he doesn't understand (eg algebra in his case).

We also use websites to help explain the concepts he doesn't 'get' as he finds this easier than reading about it in the revision guide.

hi,m sorry I disappeared! school is going to work with the group on finding out what the gaps are in each individual's knowledge, and then sub-divide them for extra support til next retake. so if you are ok at algebra but crap at multiplication you'll go to the multiplication support group iyswim.

I'm going to let the dust settle and then fix an appointment with her teacher rather than the head of dept (she doesnt like him, and he doesnt like teaching the less able ones so he's not much cop really).

I will also print off past papers, and I like your idea about websites JeanSeberg I will research those too.

just gutted for her, and for the rest of her group - they did work hard but grade boundaries have gone up AGAIN (thanks Gove you fuckwit). also feel for the teachers, who will have to get them remotivated...

BBC bitesize is a good place to start, all the topics are on there and lots of videos.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/maths/

Plus the website for the exam board for past papers, ours is Edexcel:

www.edexcel.com/i-am-a/student/Pages/pastpapers.aspx

It's even got the specification on there so you know everything they are expected to know:

www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/GCSE2010/UG029981_GCSE_MathsA_Spec_2012.pdf

If the school has a mymaths.co.uk login (which it probably will), she could also log in and work her way through the D-C booster packs.

If she sat edexcel, definitely ask the school about ResultsPlus. I logged on this morning and printed off the topic/mark breakdown for each student. They'll also be able to do this for the higher papers she sat so she can see if it has always been her algebra, or geometry, or whether she just didn't get on with this exam paper.