At Mathswise , prospective Grade 12s, with us in grade 11, already start their syllabus at the end of Grade 11.
When students finish their November exams each year, grade 11s are required to attend a few extra sessions, where we will usually do two grade 12 topics, which schools cover in the first term of grade 12.The grade 12s also start early in January, before school starts to continue these topics
This gives the new grade 12s a useful head start when they go back to school the following year, as they are always going to be ahead of their class in terms of the syllabus covered.
( this proved invaluable in 2020 when the academic year was disrupted by the Covid 19 lockdowns )
Our students were already ahead by two chapters , and were visibly less stressed than those who felt the full effect of the covid disruptions and inadequate online learning platforms , not suited to most students.
Grade 11 Information
For grade 11 , getting an excellent mark is important for universities too, as many of them already select students provisionally based on their grade 11 results. Grade 11 work is also an integral part of the grade 12 syllabus, and the exam itself, it is thus important for the student to master all the topics, so they don't get bogged down having to re-learn that work in grade 12, when time is limited.
The National Benchmark Tests ( NBTs ) also require a good understanding of all grade 11 theory , which feature prominently in those tests. These NBT scores form part of the student's application to tertiary institutions, and are compulsory.
Starting early, and staying ahead of the class is probably the best strategy for grade 11, and we therefore start grade 11 work at the end of the grade 10 academic year, in the first two weeks of the December holidays, after the November exams are completed. Doing Euclidean Geometry and Trigonometry in this period gives the student a huge advantage when returning to school the following year, as more time can be spent on revision.
And if more indepth revision of grade 10 work is required, there will be enough time to do that too.
Grade 10 Information
As the the start of the FET phase, grade 10 is important in laying down the solid foundations needed for grade 11 and 12. Many times when students struggle in the higher grades, it is because of a weak grade 10 foundation. It is seldom noticed until the student reaches grade 11 or 12 and needs to apply grade 10 work when it becomes a problem, and then has to be remedied anyway, but at the expense of time that could be spent on new work.
Therefore, though not important in terms of applying to tertiary institutions, grade 10 inevitably directly affects those processes in the long term.
If tuition is ever considered, it should start in grade 10, as many of the core topics such as functions, circle geometry and trigonometry,
start here.
We also have a program for grade 10s going to grade 11 in early December to prepare students for grade 11, by starting the Euclidean Geometry and Functions beforehand.
Grade 7 - 9 Information
For Grade 7 to Grade tuition , students are given targeted worksheets to focus on strengthening the basics of arithmetic and algebra, needed for the higher grades. If a student struggles with a particular topic , a worksheet will be drawn up and developed especially for him / her , until the topic is mastered .
Topics such as fractions and basic algebra is particularly important and forms the building blocks of topics in later academic years, so having a solid foundation here essential. And as most schools focus differently on different parts of the syllabus, we see to it that the student tries to cover the topics to be done at their particular school beforehand, so it make it easier when they do it at school.
Students also have the option to attend holiday sessions to cover topics beforehand , or to redo topics they are not yet totally comfortable with at school.