Previous knowledge
It is strongly advised that students have a minimum of grade A in Mathematics at GCSE and will have taken the Higher Tier. Even with these pre-requisites, students may have to spend the summer preparing for the start of the IB SL course in order to ensure they have a solid grounding in the presumed knowledge. Please see Revision Resources - Mathematics for detailed revision advice.

Mathematics SL
The main focus of all IB Diploma Mathematics courses at JESS is to enable students to become inquiring independent learners. Students that have chosen to take SL Mathematics will be competent mathematicians looking to extend their current knowledge, perhaps to complement their future studies at university or just for the pursuit of a more rigorous course than MSSL can provide. SL is a subset of HL Mathematics and as such touches on some of the challenging ideas and concepts of its more rigorous parent. Whilst the SL course clearly does not enjoy as much rigour and intellectual demand as HL, students nevertheless will be expected to have a strong background in Mathematics if they are to enjoy success on this course. Like the HL course, one of the fundamental objectives of the SL course is to encourage effective communication at all levels and in all forms. At the IB Diploma level all students will be expected to make full and proper use of technology as a tool to explore familiar and new topics and to communicate their ideas. This technology will include general skills applicable to other curriculum areas, such as Excel, PowerPoint, and also Mathematics specific with the use of Autograph, graphing calculators and appropriate geometry software. The fundamental teaching and learning philosophy will be one that mirrors the existing philosophy established throughout JESS. Students will experience a wide range of learning and teaching styles as a means to refine old ideas and acquire new ones. At Standard Level students will also experience lecture style lessons where they will be expected to take their own notes according to their own needs. This is a necessary preparation for life at university and a transferable skill that students need to master.

Students at JESS will follow an enriched SL Mathematics course that will weave in cultural and historical aspects in an attempt to explore the international aspect of Mathematics and the contribution that various cultures have made to the development of Mathematics. Thus, early in the course, students will undertake a research project to answer the provocative question, “Most of the influential Mathematics used today was developed by male western Europeans. Discuss.” Development of the Arabic Number system and the influence on today’s western base 10 number system will be a natural point of discussion within this sphere and this will set the tone for the rest of the course where fundamental concepts will be introduced in their historical and cultural context. The importance of Mathematics as a universal language of communication will also be discussed throughout the course. The expectations of all students will be that of independent learners, capable of pursuing mathematical ideas and concepts beyond the confines of the syllabus in an attempt to further strengthen their own ideas and understanding. The nature of proof and its evolution through history will also be a strong feature of the course although the pursuit of full rigour with each proof will not be as intense as the HL course. Most topics will introduce new or existing ideas to students in a variety of modes, whether through investigation or self research, lecture style delivery or interactive whole class teaching.

Towards the end of the first year all SL students will participate in a cross-curricular project based on sustainable growth in the Middle East with Dubai the main focus. Here students will combine their mathematical growth modelling skills with their environmental and ecological awareness to produce an analysis on the future prospects for growth in Dubai.

Our aims therefore are to encourage all students to communicate their ideas about Mathematics in an effective manner set within an appropriate cultural and historical context.

Assessment
All students will be formally examined at the end of the two-year course. They will sit two papers: one with a graphical calculator and one without any calculator. All students will also be required to undertake two Internal Assessment portfolios. The Internal Assessment offers students the opportunity to pursue their independent research skills to the utmost with minimal guidance offered by the teacher.