Fees and costs
In general, all mathematics courses are offered free of cost to all students.
Students are required to provide their own stationary (see the material list below) and other material as advised by their teacher. Mathematics excursions and competitions may be held from time to time and fees are payable to attend/participate.
Materials
Students are encouraged to bring to each lesson the following:
- textbook and textbook cover
- exercise /grid book (class work book)
- scientific calculator (can be purchased from school)
- geometry sets
- ruler
- glue
- scissors
- general stationery (black pen, red pen & pencil).
Textbooks
Textbooks are supplied by the mathematics faculty to all students and they are responsible for the care of these books so that future students can make use of them.
Textbook covers are available for purchase via the office (take the receipt to the maths staffroom to get the cover) for around $5. This ensures that the textbook that has been loaned to the student stays in good condition.
Competitions
Blakehurst High School mathematics has consistently participated in the Australian Mathematics Competition. Students in the "top" class in each year group are expected to participate in this competition and all other students are also encouraged to participate.
Students entering this competition frequently achieve excellent results and the experience gained from participating in this challenging competition is immeasurable.
Effective study tips
To effectively develop their ability and hone their skills in mathematics, students are encouraged to "do" the maths and not simply "read" it.
In order to learn effectively students must abide by the teachers' classroom rules.
Students are encouraged to compile a brief summary of important facts and formulas that may be used in a topic.
Each evening, students are expected to review the work from that day's lesson and make summary notes from that lesson into a journal or digest.
Students are encouraged to complete all set class and homework and check their answers referenced to the solution page in their text book. This helps to consolidate their understanding.
When preparing for assessment tasks students are encouraged to "do" a wide range of problems from a variety of sources, in particular, problems from earlier topics that students tend to forget. Textbook work and class notes are a great start but students should be completing supplementary work such as worksheets, assignments, study guides, topic reviews and past examination papers.