Can a current maths level 2 reach GCSE grade 4 in a year?

[Clearsunnysky]

As per the tittle. Is it s GCSE of 4 achievable from a current level of 2? In a year?

Should we get DS in a maths camp. Intense maths tutoring for a year?

Have you raised your concerns with the school about this, because as far as I'm concerned that's not teaching.

Videos have their place, and I recommend them to students as reminders for when they do homework but they shouldn't be used in place of teacher explanation, as that is what they're paid to do!

no, but not sure how to do it. It is the whole maths department

Yes, sadly that is the case and my children have experienced it with some teachers.

Regarding the private tutor, he is good but I don’t think he believes in DS so that is not going to help.

So a level 4 GCSE foundation maths what school year represent? How many years does he need to catch up with

Probably overthinking but the pandemic was in year 5, also there was some bullying. DS struggled the last 2 years of primary so maybe he has a blockage,

So you don’t know at all then.

Every parent I have spoken with say maths at the school is terrible

Do you honestly think that the teacher has videos on every lesson or what? We use PPTs every lesson to support our teaching - this could easily be what the DS is talking about. If you’re a teacher, I would assume you know that pupils are frequently ‘misinforming’ their parents about what goes on in school 😂

Of course not, but it isn't unheard of.

If my dc was telling me this, then I would at least want to know how much of that is what they say as is!

All parents I have spoken with say Math at the school is terrible so it is not just DS

So all the kids have tutors then? My DD2 used to say that about maths - she just didn’t like the teacher until she ended up with her in 6th form and got A*s in 3 maths A levels.

I think this is both unhelpful and irrelevant tbh.

If you are saying "my DS really struggles with the maths teacher" most likely the parents you are talking to will nod agreement. That proves pretty much nothing.

Also it seems vanishingly unlikely that every student at the school is failing at maths. If that were so there would be interventions at senior level I suspect.

It's also unhelpful as you need to think about your DS. How is he doing? What is he doing? What does he find hard? What key maths skills has he yet to master? What is he covering with the tutor and what progress has he made? At the very least I would have a long conversation with the tutor about what he has done and what he needs to do to progress. Any good tutor would be happy to discuss this.

Forget about "the school is terrible at maths" and "all the pther parents agree with me". That won't help your DS. @Clearsunnysky your posts mostly seem to talk about the tutor, how much they cost, and how you are not happy. But nothing about what your DS finds hard about the maths. I think you (or the tutor) needs to go back to basics with him. Tbh if you are any good at maths I amsure you could go through a few maths F tier past papers with him and see what he can't do. That would give you a bit more of a directed steer on this.

I think you need to find what it is your son is struggling with. E.g does he know his tables, can he multiply and divide numbers by 10, 100 and 1000. Does he understand what 2/5 means? Can he add 2/5 and 2/5? Does he know what 75% represents? Which is bigger 1 1/2 or 1.2? This is all primary school maths, but, especially in maths, the curriculum builds on what comes before and if you are missing the ‘before’, it is extremely hard to build on it.

At foundation level there is virtually no difference between the exam boards.

The higher papers (grade 4-9) have more differences but they’re all similar enough that revision books etc are published for all exam boards.

edexcel is the most popular particularly at foundation as it is less wordy than some others.

there are three papers, two calculator one not. So learning to add subtract multiply and divide without a calculator doesn’t get you much more marks.

getting very familiar with your calculator and how to use it is a good way to pick up marks. Most schools have a calculator they recommend and there’s a lot of videos on corbettmaths or similar on how to use it.

for example it can work out averages, has an equation solver you can use for algebra etc etc.

There’s lots of videos on YouTube eg this one

but in all honesty it’s best done little and often- so have it every maths lesson and use it every maths lesson.

most schools will also do mock analysis so your child will have been given a list of topics from the last set of mocks - those he got right (green) those he got partially right (amber) and those he got wrong (red)

the idea is that if he/his tutor work on the amber questions or the easier questions that he should have got right he can hoover up more marks.

rather than doing topics that are beyond him.

the papers in general go from easy to hard so any red questions early on are worth focusing on,

I think you are getting some good advice here.
Your DS needs to practice maths often. Ideally in short bursts of a few minutes most days. Not just when he has his tutoring session.

The video thing is rubbish isn't it? My DS had a teacher who put on videos in a level maths in the end. She was new to teaching a level and out of her depth and couldn't do the questions herself. The Oxbridge candidates in the room used to correct her.

So learning to add subtract multiply and divide without a calculator doesn’t get you much more marks.

This rather misses the point. Getting a calculator to add, subtract, multiply and divide is about speed but if you cannot do those without a calculator then you are missing the fundamental basics of understanding maths. You need to learn to add, subtract, multiple and divide to understand what is going on when you do calculation or you will never be able to make any progress.

My dd got from a 2 to a 4. In both English and math. We got her an English face to face tutor and luckily she got an amazing new math teacher towards the end of year 10. He did exam prep with small groups of kids before school a few times a week. He was an amazing teacher. She had bad luck with a few teachers plus she needed a kick up the bum! A good teacher/ tutor made all the difference.
So definitely possible with the right help. Ask locally for face to face tutor recommendations.

That is great to hear. Congratulations to your DD.

I think a good tutor/ teacher will make all the difference plus practicing every day even if it is 15min. Unfortunately maths at his school is not going to change so we may have to do more than an hour tutoring per week.

We started with a face to face English tutor a couple of weeks ago and you can already see the enthusiasm and motivation on DS.

If you're close to me I'll give him a free assessment OP. I'm a tutor.