How many hours of maths does your school allocate?

[MsAwesomeDragon]

I'm wondering how much time is given to maths in a variety of secondary schools.

My school currently gives y7 4 hours a week then y8-11 get 3 hrs a week.

Dd's school get 4 hours a week all the way from y7-11.

And a friend's dd gets 5 lessons a week, but the lessons are 50 mins rather than an hour.

My department are currently trying to persuade the SLT to give us more curriculum time to deal with the increased content of the new GCSE.

[Etymology23]

My school used to do 3 hr periods but has switched to a 30 hr week and now has 4 50min periods. 4 also for English and 4 for science as well I think. (Used to be 3 and Then 3 per week for 4x options and 3 for pe (no qual) re (1/2) and pshe. I think the plan now is to remove the pshe and turn it into a floating subject so they can give more time to English, maths and science.

Science they do triple for top set by starting them a year early, then non top set can take triple as an option instead.

[Danglingmod]

Ds's school, independent, teaches 5 hours per week for maths, English and science... but they have an hour's extra teaching a day compared to a state school.

They also only do 9 GCSEs if they are double scientists. 5 core plus 4 options. Triple scientists do the extra modules in the same 5 hrs as double.

[user1471530109]

Gove of course!

[user1471530109]

HOD of science here. We do a 3 year ks4 and I still can't for triple science into the allocated time following the exam board SOW. We have 9 hours a fortnight (for both combined and triple).
Going to go to triple science being an option choice asap. I think Maths and English get the same amount of time allocation but I'm not 100% (new to school). There are only 3 option blocks.

I wouldn't want to be an art, music or drama teacher at the moment unfortunately.
School also going to three year ks4 for all subjects and I fully intend to use tutor period in yr11 for intervention.

Give is a twat. And most of my yr11s agree.

[mmzz]

Thanks for coming back. It was really nice of you to explain.
I know the new exams are causing all kinds of headaches for everyone involved.

[MsAwesomeDragon]

Sorry, didn't mean to snap. It's been a long day.

[mmzz]

snappy dragon?

[MsAwesomeDragon]

Well mmzz, I'm not sure we'd be complaining quite so much if we had 3hrs20 a week, as that would be 4 lessons of 50 mins I assume, rather than 3 lessons of an hour. Those extra 20 mins a week add up to an extra 13 hours a year doing maths, which would make a massive difference to how much content we could get through and how much time we could devote to consolidation and revision.

3 hrs a week was more than enough to teach the old GCSE, but is not enough to teach the new GCSE. Other subjects are finding the same now they have moved to the new GCSEs as well. So something needs to change.

Our results aren't bad by any means, they are above the national average. BUT they aren't as good as they have been historically. The teachers haven't changed, the intake hasn't notably changed, the only thing that has changed is the GCSE content which has massively increased.

[RedSkyAtNight]

In KS3, it's 7 hours a fortnight.
In KS4, it's 8 hours a fortnight. Plus DC who opt to study triple science get an extra "Maths for scientists" lesson (1 hour), which is taught by a science teacher.

[mmzz]

3hrs 20 mins per week in year 11, with good results obtained. Are people saying more is needed?

[disahsterdahling]

I think in ds' school it's (for 8 GCSEs):

6 hours (lessons) a week for (double) science
5 hours a week for English
5 hours a week for Maths
12 hours for the three GCSE options, so 4 hours each
2 hours a week for PE

[BarbarianMum]

Really surprised by these responses. Ds1 (Y7) gets 3 hours of maths a week. And this is at a school particularly known for its exam success in maths (its a comp too so not just via selection). Maybe he'll get more maths as he moves up the school?

[Heifer]

My DD (Yr9) gets 8 hrs a fortnight (this year is 4 per week,, I think Yr8 was 5&3), Each lesson is 1hr.
They have a long lunch time and are expected to attend at least 2 clubs per week. There are quite a few different maths clubs so they could get help if needed.

[iseenodust]

DS yr9 gets 4 x 45 mins lessons per week.

[MsAwesomeDragon]

We have single year tutor groups where the tutor moves up with the class, so I'm not entirely sure the head would go for it, as it would take a bit of a reshuffle for the y11 tutor groups. But it's an option that can be put forward as a compromise if he won't bend on more teaching time.

[noblegiraffe]

Yes, subject specific tutor groups could really increase teaching time where it's needed. My school has vertical tutoring so we couldn't make it work.

[MsAwesomeDragon]

That blog was interesting noble. Their idea of subject specific tutor groups in y11 sounds great. We currently do that with a very small group working with a hlta, but it's only available to a very small group who are all pp pupils doing the foundation paper. It would be great if we could do that with a couple of classes full, higher and foundation. Another option that could be put forward.

[MsAwesomeDragon]

Yes, he's a complete and utter twat Noble.

Something has to change in my school, as we are currently trying to squeeze the new GCSEs into the same time as the old ones, and it just doesn't work. Dropping one option subject would work as that time could be used for other subjects in y10 and 11. Or moving to a 3 year ks4 would work because each subject would be able to spread out over 3 years, giving every subject a little bit more time. But right now, what we're doing isn't working for the kids. It was bad enough last year with only Maths and English doing the new GCSEs, but now every subject is doing the new GCSEs the kids are getting pressure and stress from everywhere because nobody can fit everything in.

[N0RA]

My kids school allocates one period a day to maths. This is the same for all year groups up to A level equivalent. In their schools, Maths is the top subject.

[Aliveinwanderland]

5 hours per week for all year groups.

[noblegiraffe]

There's a bit of a blog about teaching hours here:

justmaths.co.uk/2015/07/16/teaching-time/

[TheThickenPlots]

We do 3 hours a week years 7-10 then 5 hours a week in y11

[noblegiraffe]

Gove is such a tosser isn't he. He might be gone, but the awful effects of his thoughtless decisions live on, with real teachers losing their jobs.

[BoneyBackJefferson]

MsAwesomeDragon

apologies.

we run a three year ks4, early entry in several subjects, which means that pupils can opt for an extra 5 hours per week in year 11.

[MsAwesomeDragon]

Boney, I'm sorry you are worried about your job, it's not a nice feeling at all. [Flowers]

I didn't mean us as in on this thread, I meant us as in all the teachers in my school. We have a problem with numbers because there was a low birth rate in our catchment area for quite a few years. Other schools don't seem to have that problem, even fairly close by (but still a 30 mins bus ride away).