Year 11 Maths - how much talking in class?

[Dancergirl]

Dd is in Year 11 and has always found Maths a bit of a challenge. However she's been working well and was delighted to get a B in the mock (iGCSE) and is hoping to get an A by the summer.

The problem is she finds the lessons at school quite disruptive due to lots of girls talking while they are working. She needs a quiet atmosphere to think the work through.

The teacher says she encourages discussion about the work to 'deepen understanding'. Is this common in Maths these days? Dd is quiet and reserved and finds it hard to take part in discussions about the work. She just wants to get on with it in quiet! Is that unreasonable?

I absolutely encourage talking about the maths in my classes, girls especially gain reassurance from checking with each other that they are doing the right thing.

Can she move away from the girls who are talking? They shouldn't be that loud as to disrupt across the classroom. If your DD needs silence, could you ask the teacher for an initial 5 minutes silent working before discussion allowed?

Really, I must admit I am surprised but maybe that's how things are done now. I'm the same as dd, I need quiet especially for something like Maths.

The problem is, these girls are quite loud and disruptive anyway and given half a chance to talk (about the work) they will. And not about the work.

Girls talking quietly about the work isn't the problem then, girls being loud and disruptive is. The teacher should at least acknowledge this is an issue and attempt to address it through splitting the girls up, usual disciplinary procedures. It can be bloody difficult at this point in Y11 though.