Year 8 Maths

[twosoups1972]

Dd is in the top Maths set in Year 8. She has been saying this year there is very little actual teaching, they spend most of the lesson working independently from a text book and she's finding it quite dull.

I did ask the school about this and they say it's usual for the top set to work independently to practice and consolidate the work without it being spelt out by the teacher.

Is this usual? I thought the more able students would be challenged and extended a bit more.

Not usual at all, my child had a teacher who did this and he eventually got sacked. They need to be challenged and engaged. My child’s teacher last year was great for top set. They would always give out challenge questions for those who finished the work and made sure to explain if somebody didn’t get something. If they didn’t get it , they would set everyone off on the work and help them 1 to 1 whilst others are doing the work and completing questions.

No one teaches maths through a book in our Maths department. Haven't used textbooks or even worksheets for years.

This happened with my son too in year 8 - lazy teacher who used that very same excuse. DS got very bored with the repetition and got quite a low score in the end of year exams (as did many of his classmates). Luckily, they got a fantastic teacher in year 9 who really inspired them again and not only got them back on track but did a lot of extension work to keep them interested and engaged.

No, not usual, top sets need teaching too.

I would be suspicious that they didn’t actually have a qualified maths teacher in front of them and the work was being set by someone else. When she asks for help does she get it?

I would be suspicious that they didn’t actually have a qualified maths teacher in front of them and the work was being set by someone else.

This was exactly my thought. Maths teachers are like gold dust at the moment and desperate schools will stick almost anybody in front of a class these days to fill a gap.

Oh dear, I have just checked the staff list and dd's teacher is not there! I didn't know schools use unqualified teachers. He has a 'Dr' title but that doesn't necessarily mean anything does it?

It means they have a pHd!

Sorry, long day.

What I meant was, often staff from other departments are dragged in to cover maths. They might be qualified but out of their area.

Could have a PhD in a totally un related subject!

Not usual, unless she's getting explanations and then tetx book work and help if she needs it.

As an able mathematician I would have loved to be given the maths book and told to work from it at my own pace.
By year 10 I was usually several exercises away from everyone else and it was fantastic.
The teacher would have a few investigation questions for me at the end of each topic, so I'd start fresh with everyone else. Sometimes I'd make up my own investigations, and she'd let me go with that.

To me that was a much better teacher that spent time explaining and waiting for everyone to start the same exercises. I normally could see what to do with almost no explanation, so class discussions were pretty boring.

Academies and free schools can use totally unqualified teachers. It's also fairly normal to have maths taught by qualified teachers who have another specialism as maths is a subject where there is a massive shortage. Often schools will prioritize exam classes over Y7/Y8.

Is your DD actually struggling or just finding it dull?

Got a DS in year 8 and DD in year 9 top set maths. Asked DD and she said most of the set work through a textbook or from the board and every other lesson the maths teacher explains what they doing, other than that they are working through it.

The top few are given different work - she currently has an A Level Maths book to work through, think its just her who has that. At this stage in year 8 it was a GCSE Maths book. She does it by herself but maths teacher comes over to explain when needed. Both mine love the maths and excellent maths teaching at the school.

Before she was at a grammar and said there they were just given a book and told to work through it by themselves. Always take what my kids say goes on with a pinch of salt but gives an idea. They do the UKMT challenges too and offer maths, stats and FM for GCSE.

Everytimeref may I ask if you don’t use books or worksheets, where do you get questions from for students to do? They surely must have something in front of them to work from?