Departments

‘Mathematics is the language with which God wrote the universe’.  Galileo

Numeracy and mathematics are at the core of many of the subjects studied at school, and are central to everyday life itself.  When our students leave school they will undoubtedly use mathematics in their job, and their employers will expect them to not only be numerate, but also adept at problem solving. 

The department is situated in the Clavius Building.  There are nine teachers in the department.

Curriculum

S1 – S2: Reinforcement of mathematical ideas from Primary
             Commencement of studies towards SQA National 5

S3 – S4: SQA National 4 and 5; preparation for SQA Higher

S5: SQA Higher

S6: SQA Advanced Higher
      Support for University entrance exams (such as the Cambridge STEP papers and Oxford MAT)

Academic Success

The College excels in supporting pupils who either excel or struggle with maths. 

Everyone gets stuck, so in addition to the help available in class the mathematics department runs drop-in sessions.  Students can stop-by and get all their queries answered - and no question is silly.

Many students thrive in their mathematical studies at the College, and so the department offers opportunities for enrichment in many different ways. 

Teachers make use of puzzles, the Internet, digital resources and graphing calculators to enrich the student experience in the classroom.

The College also encourages participation in Mathematics competitions including:

• Scottish Mathematical Council Mathematics Challenges
• Scottish Mathematical Council Enterprising Maths
• Mathématiques sans Frontières
• United Kingdom Mathematics Trust Challenges (the follow on rounds of which lead into the British Mathematical Olympiad).

In 2015 pupils from St Aloysius’ College achieved 10 Gold, 24 Silver and 38 Bronze awards in the national competitions.  In Mathématiques sans Frontières our S4 team was in the top 10 ten teams in Scotland. The department benefits from strong links with the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde.

Video: Intro to Higher Mathematics