The Mathematics Department at LEH Foshan recognises that mathematics skills and concepts are essential building blocks for students to develop a working knowledge of the world around them and aims to awaken an interest and joy for the use of mathematics in the real world.
Learn Through Doing
Mathematics at LEH believes that students learn through doing. The primary aim is to nurture all students to be confident, capable mathematicians for the future. Of course, what students learn is important – but how they learn is even more crucial. Students learn through investigating, exploring, talking, problem-solving and, quite simply ‘doing’ things. LEH teachers work on positive and negative reinforcement (behaviourism), problem solving (cognitivism) and discovery learning (constructivism).
We believe that students are more successful when systematic problem solving is incorporated into discovery learning. Consequently, there should be more emphasis on teaching methods which include less lecture, more student-directed classes and more discussion. The LEH mathematics department believes that problem-solving and discovery-learning skills not only contribute to better mathematics learning but also enhance students’ creativity to cope with life challenges.
Enthusing Students
Motivating students to be enthusiastically receptive is one of the most important aspects of mathematics instruction and a critical aspect of any curriculum. We try to focus attention on the less interested students as well as the motivated ones. We use rewards, house points, stickers, praise. However, many students demonstrate intrinsic motivation in their desire to understand a topic or concept (task-related), and they enjoy outperforming others (ego-related), or they just want to impress others (social-related). We think our own genuine interest and excitement in the topics goes a long way to enthusing students.
Mathematics is NOT Scary!
If a student is struggling with mathematics, it can be a challenge to get them the help they need. The first step is to determine where the issue lies. Is he or she lacking foundational skills? Is it a particular concept like decimals, fractions or graphing? Once we know where the problem lies, we can better tailor the kind of supplemental material that we can use. It’s no secret children love to play so we utilise this. There are tons of online games that help students master math skills such as counting money, telling time, addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and more.
Believe it or not, reading comprehension plays a big role in math, especially when students get into word problems. If a student doesn’t understand the question being asked, there is no way they will be able to work out the problem and provide a correct answer. Ensuring that our students have solid comprehension skills can help improve their math skills, we spend some part of every lesson consolidating new vocabulary and using it as often as possible to embed its meaning. Additionally, we believe it’s always a good idea to have students read the question several times, and even break it down into parts for multi-step problems.
The mathematics department also believes in using visual aids: This strategy can be especially helpful for visual learners and kinesthetic learners who learn by observing and doing. Posters, videos, or manipulatives like toys, candy or cereal pieces, can help bring concepts to life. In addition, having student’s colour and draw when learning geometry and fractions can be very helpful as well.
Mathematics Can be FUN!
The mathematics department aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim we encourage students to use activities such as games, websites, and competitions to further their experiences.
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UK Maths challenge (https://www.ukmt.org.uk)
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PI day (https://www.mangahigh.com)
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Nrich (https://nrich.maths.org)
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Mangahigh COBIS competition
UKMT 2022
The intermediate mathematics challenge took place during Chinese New Year. Lots of our students put their holiday on hold and came into school to try the challenge. The maths department was impressed by them all and congratulate them on attempting some very complex questions. The winners of the event are Hiroshi (Bronze), Yutaka (Bronze), Winnie (Silver) and Ethan (Gold)!
Online Resources include:
The Mathematics Department have been encouraging students to play www.nerdle.com every day and to download nonogram. These are 10-minute activities which increases students use of mental maths and logic to solve a number statement.
Celebrating Mathematics
Pi (π) Day which took place on Monday 14 March was a great success with students from all year groups reciting or writing Pi to as many decimal places as they could. During the Computer science lesson Year 10 made a program to check the digits for pi as they were input, a real example of cross curricular work, well done!
The winners are: Simon, Ethan, Mei, Tina (Yr 6), who all wrote over 100 digits. A special mention to Guim who recited over 50 digits without writing them down. Other excellent attempts were Issam, Suki, Tai, Nicole, and Yen Yung. All participants received house points.
Truly British Syllabus
Broadly speaking the students will follow the National Curriculum set out in the UK.
Year 4 - 5
The principal focus of mathematics teaching in Year 4 and 5 is to ensure that pupils become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the 4 operations, including number facts and the concept of place value. This should ensure that pupils develop efficient written and mental methods and perform calculations accurately with increasingly large whole numbers. At this stage, pupils should develop their ability to solve a range of problems, including with simple fractions and decimal place value. Teaching should also ensure that pupils draw with increasing accuracy and develop mathematical reasoning so they can analyse shapes and their properties, and confidently describe the relationships between them. It should ensure that they can use measuring instruments with accuracy and make connections between measure and number.
Year 6 - 9
In Year 6 – 9, much time is spent honing number skills and investigating patterns in numbers and shape. Whilst skills and competence are essential, the core aim is for students to appreciate and understand why these skills are important and how and when they will be used. Algebra is introduced and used to help solve more complex problems.
Year 10 - 11, IGCSE
In Year 10 – 11, time is spent investigating patterns in numbers and shape. Whilst skills and competence are essential in number, algebra, shape and data analysis the most important aim is for students to appreciate and understand why these skills are essential and how and when they will be used. Algebra skills are developed and used to help solve more complex problems.
Year 12 - 13, A Level
A Level or Year 12 – 13 will be introduced from the academic year 2022-23 and will build on student’s previous knowledge and skills learnt. This is why the basics have to be in place. A-Level Mathematics is thus a subject which deals with abstract structures. Some of these arise in scientific theories, while others are familiar from everyday life; a few are studied by mathematicians purely for their intrinsic beauty.
Mathematics Department
Mrs Kirk
Head of Faculty
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Over 35 years of teaching experience in UK, Colombia, Spain, Dubai, Thailand, China
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University of Exeter, UK and McGill, Canada
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Associate examiner Pearson A Level mathematics
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COBIS Peer assessor
Miss Pritchard
Teacher of Mathematics
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Over 5 years teaching experience
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Trained and worked at an outstanding school in UK
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De Montfort University, University of Warwick
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Completed accelerate programme for young and talented teachers by Department of Education
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Completed the Outstanding Teacher Practice by OLEVI
Hot Questions for Mrs Kirk
Q1 .What do you love about your job at LEH Foshan? What are your personal goals and professional goals?
At LEH Foshan every day is different, every lesson brings new challenges and rewards, every conversation puts a different slant on the lesson and the learning. My goal is to instil a love of mathematics, to cultivate a mindset of enquiry and genuine interest in how mathematics is used in all areas of our life. I enjoy teaching and I recognise myself to be a lifelong learner. My goal is to keep on learning and to keep having fun doing so. The main objective of any teacher is to develop a skill to stimulate experience by the creation of an emotional atmosphere. I hope to develop a capacity to do, observe, infer and to generalise.
Q2 .You have over 30 years of teaching experience and led students to join competitions such as SEAMC and the UK's Maths Feast. What do you think is the most important when teaching Mathematics?
Teaching mathematics is all about exploring and looking to solve problems. There are always new ideas to discover, and different methods to use and adapt. Competition is a great way to encourage students to think outside of the box and also for them to see excellence in the form of other students and different approaches. A really good mathematician is creative, does not stick rigidly to learnt methods, and is not afraid to fail in order to succeed by looking at other paths of possible solutions.
Q3 .As an A-Level Examiner, what are the strength of the School’s A Level curriculum?
Mathematics is the most popular subject choice at A-Level, and it’s clear to see why. Maths can play an integral part of many careers, and can provide numerous opportunities, both academically and career-wise. As technology continues to advance, so too does Mathematics, increasing its essential role in both every day and corporate life. New mathematical theories are being discovered and developed every day, enabling inventions and scientific discoveries to continue to flourish. By studying Mathematics at A-Level, you will have the opportunity to forge a career that is at the forefront of technological advancement.
Book List Recommended
In the Mathematics Department we recognise how important it is for children to learn mathematics and understand mathematical concepts. Some students are gifted and can pick up on maths and math concepts quite easily. Other students, including the verbally gifted may have a harder time.
Fiction books based on maths are perfect for both kinds of students. They will enjoy the stories, wordplay, and riddles, and since the maths concepts are presented in story form, they can find it easier to understand the concepts.
