I wrote this course in 2020 for Year 11 pupils at Latymer Upper School. The national lockdown meant their GCSE exams didn't take place, and they were working remotely. Rather than simply give them the summer off, we gave them work to prepare the ground for A Level study in their chosen subjects. Because we have a significant intake at Year 12, we couldn't simply embark on the A Level course, so I had to design stand-alone extension material. The result were these two 'Lockdown Courses', one pure and one applied. Each section (e.g. polynomials or Modelling Coronavirus Data) represented about a week's work.
Original blurb below!
Welcome to the Year 11 maths course for this unusual Easter term. The material that we will cover in the first part of the course is designed primarily to get you in to the mindset of an A Level mathematician, where the demands on your algebraic skills and your capacity to think independently are much greater than at GCSE. Along the way, you will also practise some of the skills used in the GCSE course, but also - I hope - think about some of the content in a deeper, less procedural fashion. Expect to be challenged and to have to think about the problems and techniques. There will be teachers on-line to help you during timetabled slots - and do also discuss questions with one another - but you must try to engage with the material and puzzle some things out for yourself. Always try the questions before looking at the solutions - looking at what someone else has done is not the same, and won't give as much satisfaction, as working it out on your own.
Later on, there will be a focus on the maths used in everyday contexts. You will have noticed the increased public awareness of mathematical modelling because of the coronavirus outbreak, and we'll look at some of the techniques behind modelling the spread of epidemics. There will also be some modelling in other contexts and a focus on some financial maths - you'll learn how to calcuate your mortgage repayments and what APR means.
Most of the written work will be self-checked with written or video solutions, but there will be some assignments to submit for marking. I hope you enjoy the course!
Paddy MacMahon