Courses

Pupils in S1 and S2 classes are following a Broad General Education course which covers a wide range of topics.  This includes numeric skills, algebra, statistics, and geometry.  Courses cover Level 1 to Level 4 and vary according to pupil ability.

The majority of pupils in S3 are working on a common course until midway through S3, where they are then are directed to their most appropriate pathway for National certification in S4. This could be Mathematics or Applications of Mathematics.

The Mathematics course has significant Algebra and Trigonometry content and is generally suited pupils who are aiming to study Maths, Science or Engineering.

Applications of Maths has a greater focus on Personal Finance, Statistics and Numeracy.  Many of these skills are seen as belonging to more “real world” maths and may be better suited to pupils wishing to study Social Subjects, Finance, Sport Science etc.

In the senior phase we offer Higher Mathematics and Higher Applications of Maths, as well as Advanced Higher Maths and Mathematics of Mechanics. In addition, we offer the Higher Statistics unit. Pupils are also offered the chance to improve their National 5 qualifications in Mathematics and Applications of Maths.

Enrichment

In addition to encouraging all pupils to reach their potential within the maths classroom, we also provide additional opportunities for pupils to participate in a variety of maths challenge competitions organised both by Scottish and UK maths associations. 

S6 pupils take part in the annual In the Stem in the Pipeline challenge. A team of pupils are tasked with creating a development plan for a fictional oil field in the North Sea. This involves extensive research into the oil and gas industry and using multiple maths skills to determine the most economical strategy to extract oil and make profit. In the 2023/24 school session Meldrum Academy were judged to be the winners from among a total of 12 other schools – a fantastic achievement.

How to Study Maths

Pupils can need help to study maths at home, revising for tests, completing homework together and often are unsure where to start. Maths is a practical subject therefore, to get better at maths you need to be attempting questions, not just about maths. We have listed below some websites which might be helpful.  Alongside this we have produced a guide which gives you some hints and tips of how to study and get better at maths.

Useful Websites

Links to good online resources are listed below. These can be used for revision purposes or to consolidate classroom learning.

BBC Bitesize                   https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/subjects/z6vg9j6

Nat 5 maths                    https://www.national5maths.co.uk/free-national-5-maths-2/

Nat 5 Apps of maths    https://www.national5maths.co.uk/n5-lifeskills-maths/

Higher maths                 https://www.highermathematics.co.uk/higher-maths-whole-course/

SQA                                   https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/45847.html

Corbett maths               https://corbettmaths.com/

Dynamic maths             https://www.dynamicmaths.co.uk/

Nrich                                 https://nrich.maths.org/frontpage

Maths 180                       https://www.maths180.com/

MathsPad                        https://www.mathspad.co.uk/

There are also some helpful resources that pupils can access via their Glow login details.

Links Via glow are:

              Scholar

              WestOS

              Achieve

Numeracy

The “Methods in Numeracy” booklet is available to help parents/carers to support their young people in maths and numeracy, detailing many of the methods that they might use at Meldrum Academy.  It is used across all our cluster primary schools and across departments to provide a consistent message.