Year 9

This week 5.2 Mathematics, students started learning about Formulae. In this topic, students learn how to solve real world problems and develop critical thinking skills through the use of algebra and equations. Most importantly, they discover and work with real world formulae such as the formulae for area, perimeter, volume and financial mathematics. One of the key skills required to work with formulae is substituting into algebraic expressions. On Monday, 9 Sapphire revised this skill through an engaging activity that utilised dice and some healthy competition between pupils. As featured in the photos, students used dice to obtain a value to substitute into a given algebraic expression, which they would then solve. After repeating this process many times, students added up their individual solutions to see their final total. The student with the highest total in the pair was the winner.

Mrs Stefania Campbell

Year 10

In 5.1 Mathematics, our students are getting into the mix with some trigonometric ratios. Over the last few lessons, we have been reviewing our knowledge of right-angled triangles, including Pythagoras’ theorem, similar triangles and identifying the sides of triangles as opposite a reference angle, adjacent to a reference angle or the hypotenuse of a right-angled triangle. Using this information, we’ve been able to form connections between the ratio of the sides and the trigonometric functions: sine, cosine and tangent. Below you’ll be able to see some of our students using these ratios to correctly calculate the length of a missing side.