In September, after Year 10 Assessment 3, the Mathematics Department will place each Year 10 student in the Year 11 course that best suits their mathematical ability and performance at that stage of their schooling, and enables them to have the highest chance of success in the HSC. A letter will be sent home in September communicating this placement, although class streaming within these levels will still be dependent on final Year 10 marks at the end of the year.
Should a parent or student wish to request a different course of Mathematics, they may contact Mr Hanlon one week after the final Semester 2 assessments in November to discuss a potential adjustment.
Secondary School Mathematics Pathways:
Contact
Head of Department: Graham Hanlon
Email: [email protected]
Year 11
- Corequisites: Studied in conjunction with Mathematics Advanced to form 3 Units for the Preliminary course.
- Prerequisites: The Year 10 Pathway to Extension Mathematics course at Barker College.
- Exclusions: Year 11 Mathematics Standard course
The Mathematics Extension course is primarily a calculus-based course in which students need excellent algebraic and curve sketching skills to succeed. Within this course, many of the topic areas of the 2 Unit Mathematics Advanced course are further extended and explored in much greater detail. It provides a sound basis for the further study, as a major discipline, of Mathematics at a tertiary level. For example, it may be appropriate for those students who wish to pursue tertiary studies in some of the Physical Sciences, Computer Science and certain Engineering courses. The responsibility rests with the student to check any tertiary course requirements concerning prerequisites or assumed knowledge of any secondary Mathematics course.
This course moves at a very fast pace with limited time for consolidation of each concept. It quickly builds in intensity and difficulty, with each new topic utilising the concepts previously studied. Even highly capable students who do not apply themselves appropriately or consistently enough can find this course a significant challenge. Therefore, this course is intended for students who have demonstrated a very high level of competency in their study of Pathway to Extension Mathematics during Years 9 and 10. This course is strongly recommended only for those students who have gained a report grade of A or B in Year 10 Pathway to Extension Mathematics at Barker College.
Students who have demonstrated outstanding mathematical ability and results in the Mathematics Extension course during Year 11 should consider the significant benefits of undertaking the Mathematics Extension 2 course in Year 12.
Preliminary Course Topics
- Further work with functions
- Polynomials
- Further trigonometry
- Permutations and combinations
- The binomial theorem
Assessment
The assessment for Mathematics Extension will include a mix of in-class tests, investigation-style tasks and an examination.
Year 12
- Co-requisites: Studied in conjunction with HSC 2 Unit Mathematics Advanced to form 3 Units for the HSC.
- Pre-requisites: Preliminary 2 Unit Mathematics Advanced and Preliminary Mathematics Extension.
- Exclusions: HSC 2 Unit Mathematics Standard
The Mathematics Extension 1 course is primarily calculus-based and students need excellent algebraic and curve sketching skills to succeed. Within the course, many of the topic areas of the Mathematics Advanced course are extended further or explored in much greater detail. It provides a sound basis for the further study, as a major discipline, of Mathematics at a tertiary level. For example, it may be appropriate for those students who wish to pursue tertiary studies in some of the Physical Sciences, Computer Science and certain Engineering courses. The responsibility rests with the student to check any tertiary course requirements concerning prerequisites or assumed knowledge.
This course moves at a very fast pace with limited time for consolidation of each concept. It builds quickly in difficulty with each new topic utilising the concepts previously studied. Even highly capable students who do not apply themselves appropriately or consistently enough can find this course a significant challenge. Hence, any student who chooses this course should carefully consider their current level of application as this course places the highest of demands upon its participants.
Students who have demonstrated outstanding mathematical ability and results in the Mathematics Extension 1 course during Year 11 should also consider the significant benefits of undertaking the Mathematics Extension 2 course in Year 12.
HSC Course Topics
- Proof by mathematical induction
- Introduction to vectors
- Inverse trigonometric functions
- Further calculus skills
- Further applications of calculus
- The binomial distribution and the sampling distribution of the mean
Assessment
The assessment for Mathematics Extension 1 will include a mix of in-class tests, investigation-style tasks and an examination.