We have a BIG challenge with Maths and Science education in the UK. Internationally we are 27th and 16th respectively in league tables and domestically over 41% of our students failed to achieve maths grade C in 2011. Whilst our competitors have raced ahead we have, in the words of the OECD’s Director of Education, ‘stagnated’.
As they say 'every little helps' and the aim of Mathsmadeeasy is to improve maths achievement in the UK through written resources and coaching.
SATS (Standard Assessment Tests) tests are given at the end of year 2 and year 6. They are used to show your child's progress compared with other children born in the same month. For KS1, each child is assessed in reading, writing (including spelling and handwriting), maths (including number, shape, space and measurement) and science. For KS2 tests cover the three core subjects, English, Maths and Science.
Years 7 to year 9 span the period called key stage 3, culminating in the Maths, English and Science SATs tests.
By the age of 14, most children are expected to achieve level 5. These exams are often used to decide which GSCE set your child will be in.
General Certificate of Secondary Education, usually taken from ages 14 - 16 years.
Start in year 10, a two year GCSE course can be either modular (exams over two years) or linear (exams at the end). Two exam papers are taken at Foundation (achieving up to grade C) or Higher tiers (up to A*). Level 2 Key Skills = A*-C and Level 1 = D-G
AS Mathematics or Physics in year 12, has three modules usually examined in January or June. A2 Maths or Physics, a further three modules in year 13, completes the A-level course. AS and A2 are both 50% of the full A Level. The information provided is based on the OCR board, but will be applicable to other exam boards.
Experimental Science, Life processes and living things, Materials and their properties and Physical processes
Key stage 2 science involves two 45 minute tests A and B:
Test A (45 minutes) Test B (45 minutes)
Experimental Science
Be able to describe what you see
Make a simple observation
Be able to use simple equipment (eg a beaker)
Make a simple table
Make a simple prediction
Know why something is a fair test
Know why a a fair test is important
Be able to vary one factor while keeping other factors the same
Be able to identify or name the main factors that might effect the outcome of an experiment.
Be able to make predictions based on scientific knowledge and understanding.
Be able to select the correct apparatus for several experiments and use it safely
Be able to make observations and measurements with enough accuracy to get a good result.
Be able to explain why two measurements for the same observation may be different.
Be able to record your observations or measurements accurately, using a table if necessary.
Be able to present your data as a line graph (or bar chart) and interpret a trend
Be able to draw sensible conclusions from the evidence you abserve.
Sc2 Life processes and living things
Life processes
1. Pupils should be taught:
the differences between things that are living and things that have never been alive
that animals, including humans, move, feed, grow, use their senses and reproduce
to relate life processes to animals and plants found in the local environment.
Humans and other animals
2. Pupils should be taught:
to recognise and compare the main external parts of the bodies of humans and other animals
that humans and other animals need food and water to stay alive
that taking exercise and eating the right types and amounts of food help humans to keep healthy
about the role of drugs as medicines
how to treat animals with care and sensitivity
that humans and other animals can produce offspring and that these offspring grow into adults
about the senses that enable humans and other animals to be aware of the world around them.
Green plants
3. Pupils should be taught:
to recognise that plants need light and water to grow
to recognise and name the leaf, flower, stem and root of flowering plants
that seeds grow into flowering plants.
Variation and classification
4. Pupils should be taught to:
recognise similarities and differences between themselves and others, and to treat others with sensitivity
group living things according to observable similarities and differences.
Living things in their environment
5. Pupils should be taught to:
find out about the different kinds of plants and animals in the local environment
identify similarities and differences between local environments and ways in which these affect animals and plants that are found there
care for the environment.
Sc3 Materials and their properties
Grouping materials
1. Pupils should be taught to:
use their senses to explore and recognise the similarities and differences between materials
sort objects into groups on the basis of simple material properties [for example, roughness, hardness, shininess, ability to float, transparency and whether they are magnetic or non-magnetic]
recognise and name common types of material [for example, metal, plastic, wood, paper, rock] and recognise that some of them are found naturally
find out about the uses of a variety of materials [for example, glass, wood, wool] and how these are chosen for specific uses on the basis of their simple properties.
Changing materials
2. Pupils should be taught to:
find out how the shapes of objects made from some materials can be changed by some processes, including squashing, bending, twisting and stretching
explore and describe the way some everyday materials [for example, water, chocolate, bread, clay] change when they are heated or cooled.
Sc4 Physical processes
Electricity
1. Pupils should be taught:
about everyday appliances that use electricity
about simple series circuits involving batteries, wires, bulbs and other components [for example, buzzers, motors]
how a switch can be used to break a circuit.
Forces and motion
2. Pupils should be taught:
to find out about, and describe the movement of, familiar things [for example, cars going faster, slowing down, changing direction]
that both pushes and pulls are examples of forces
to recognise that when things speed up, slow down or change direction, there is a cause [for example, a push or a pull].
Light and sound
3. Pupils should be taught:
Light and dark
to identify different light sources, including the Sun
that darkness is the absence of light
Making and detecting sounds
that there are many kinds of sound and sources of sound
that sounds travel away from sources, getting fainter as they do so, and that they are heard when they enter the ear.