Maths

Hampton School is proud of its outstanding and vibrant Maths Department. Due to the popularity of the subject in Sixth Form, along with the number of pupils taking Further Math, we have a staff of 23 teachers, who are all passionate about their subject. The Hampton Maths department is one of the biggest in the country, and our collective goal is to help each individual reach their potential.

Aims of Maths Department

At Hampton we believe the successful teaching of Maths is based on six core principles:

• Understanding how to write cogent mathematical arguments
• Technique practice
• Learning to problem-solve
• Being comfortable with being uncomfortable
• Focusing on the skills you develop and how they are transferable to everyday life
• Developing a respect (love) for the subject not based on the fact you obtain the correct answer but in the journey you go on to find the solution

We teach pupils to excel in all six areas throughout their time at Hampton and have in place a range of programmes that meet the needs of those Hamptonians who require extra support as well as those who need to be challenged further.

Our teachers are passionate about teaching Maths to the highest level and many have a wealth of experience regarding the Oxford and Cambridge entrance processes. Our results are consistently excellent and the majority of pupils achieve an A* grade or equivalent in Maths IGCSE. In the Fifth Year, around half the year group also have the opportunity to study for a Level 2 Further Maths qualification.

More than three quarters of Hampton boys continue studying Maths into the Sixth Form. Sixth Form mathematicians have the opportunity to study A Level Maths, A Level Further Maths, or a one year Maths course. We usually run six Further Maths sets and eight Maths sets.

Support and Extension

In the Sixth Form, Maths extension sessions take place during lunch break and are open to all Hamptonians. The sessions are geared towards the BMO (British Maths Olympiad), the Oxford University MAT (Maths Aptitude Test), other university admissions tests, graph sketching and real-world problem-solving. In the Upper Sixth, pupils preparing for the STEP (Sixth Term Examination Paper) university admission test receive additional support to help develop their advanced mathematical problem-solving skills.

Our most gifted First to Fifth Year pupils are also invited to attend Maths extension sessions once a week, which are timetabled during their normal Maths lesson.

Our young mathematicians perform extremely well in the prestigious UKMT Team Challenges, winning the senior competition twice in recent years. Individually, boys excel in competitions such as the British Maths Olympiad.

Maths Clinic

There are weekly Maths Clinics available for Hamptonians of all ages. This is a place where any pupil can go to receive extra help with his current work. As well as these sessions, which are staffed by members of the Maths Department, we also have a number of Lower Sixth mathematicians who offer individual mentoring support to boys in the lower year groups.