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St Margaret Ward
Catholic Academy
St Margaret Ward
Catholic Academy
At St Margaret Ward, our Mathematics Department is dedicated to delivering a comprehensive and inspiring mathematics education within a nurturing Catholic environment. Our goal is to develop each student’s logical agility, fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills that serve as essential tools for both academic success and personal development. Aligned with our Catholic values, we cultivate a supportive and inclusive atmosphere where each student is encouraged to strive for excellence.
A person’s success in life depends on how well they can solve problems. No matter what their career or life situation, they’ll find satisfaction and reward by knowing how to tackle challenges head on. And while students can’t possibly practice every problem they’ll ever have in life, there is a class in school that can help them learn how to think logically: maths. Doing a maths problem helps practice the problem solving steps that apply to everyday situations: define the problem, think of ways to solve it, implement a solution, and evaluate the results.
It’s not so that they can compete in the stationary bike Olympics, it’s to build up their endurance and strength to make the rest of their lives easier and more enjoyable. Maths is like a gym for your brain. You may never need to use a quadratic equation in your adult life, but the process of learning it boosts your brainpower. By practising how to solve mathematical problems, you optimise your ability to make complex decisions down the road.
Numeracy is one of the most important skills taught in schools today. A student who has a strong grasp of numeracy has a massive advantage in today’s world. Everyone uses numeracy in their day to day lives financially, professionally and socially. Students with poor numeracy skills are more than twice as likely to face unemployment while students with strong numeracy skills are more likely to manage their money better and earn higher wages.
Statistics is one of the most applied areas of Maths taught today. It is used in every scientific study and by most successful businesses to help them get an edge on their competitors. We teach statistics because it gives every student access to analytic skills which are highly sought after in today’s job market. Students need to be aware that statistics can often be misleading and manipulative and coerce an audience into believing a desired outcome.
We live in a three-dimensional world and it is important that students develop the ability to think in 3D. We teach shape because many occupations, such as carpenters, construct shapes on a daily basis to do their job. Everybody requires a basic understanding of shape to perform simple DIY tasks at home. We also teach shape because it is prevalent in Art and Design, with concepts like symmetry being an important part of why we may find artwork pleasing to look at.
Algebra is a fantastic way to improve student’s critical and logical thinking skills, and can be incredibly beautiful and enriching to learn. Computers are in every aspect of our daily lives and algebra is integral to how computers are programmed. Teaching algebra allows students to better understand relationships in our world and to better understand mathematics as a whole.
Please click on the following link to view the Curriculum Overview for the Maths Department
