Miss Batty –ITT student (Maths Department)

I’ve been at Penwortham Girl’s for over a month now, and I’m really enjoying getting to work with all the wonderful mathematicians here! So far, we’ve been working through one of my favourite topics in algebra – sequences. Sequences can be used for all sorts of interesting things like calculating interest, working out consistent population increase/decrease, and most importantly spotting patterns in escape rooms! We’ve also been learning about some famous sequences like the Fibonacci sequence, notable for the distinctive spiral found in nature. Most importantly, working with sequences gets us thinking about patterns and relationships between numbers, which is an incredibly useful skill for helping with our mathematical fluency. I’m happy to see the progress Year 10 have been making, and I’m looking forward to moving onto the next topic with them this week.

In Year 9, we’ve been learning about standard form and surds. Standard form (also called scientific notation) is a standardised format for writing really large or really small numbers – this has meant we’ve been grappling with the distance from the earth to the sun (one hundred forty-nine billion six hundred million metres), and thinking about the diameter of a gold atom (0.000000000144g). Whilst this has meant a very quick learning curve for me with the SMART board in order to write out 27 zeros in one go, it also means that Year 9 are ready to take the scientific world by storm – there’s some future astrophysicists in the class! Now, we’re moving onto surds, another form of mathematical notation. We’ve been realising the importance of knowing our square numbers, and remembering to simplify, simplify, simplify! I can’t wait to see how the girls in both classes progress over the next term.

Miss Batty, Trainee Teacher (Mathematics)

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  • Artsmark Platinum Award - Awards by Arts Council England
  • Lancashire Socio-economic Equality Badge
  • SMART
  • UNICEF
  • School Mental Health Award
  • Ofsted - Outstanding Provider
  • International School Award
  • Artsmark Platinum Award - Awards by Arts Council England
  • Lancashire Socio-economic Equality Badge
  • SMART
  • UNICEF
  • School Mental Health Award
  • Ofsted - Outstanding Provider
  • International School Award