VCE Maths choices

[Potoroo]

I’m trying to support my year 10 daughter in her subject choices for next year and beyond.
She’s a really good maths student but was advised to general maths 1,2 in yr 10 and do the other 2 maths in year 11 and 12. She’s finding the general way easy and not interesting. And she also has a stack of other subjects she wants to do in year 12 so feels that Further 3,4 is a waste of her precious choices.
She is proposing to cover the Methods 1,2 subject during the remainder of this year with the support of her yr 10 Adv Algebra teacher. And then attempt Methods 3,4 in year 11.
This way she is doing a maths she really wants to do, and has room for Physics, Computing, French etc.
Does this sound achievable?
 She’s very motivated and knows it will be challenging.
Appreciate any opinions, stories of similar experiences.
Cheers
Potoroo

[Bri MT]

If she is motivated and her teacher is supportive it seems highly likely to me that this is very achievable.
It might be useful for her to look at the study design for methods (study designs are available for all VCE subjects from the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority website and outline the content covered in a subject & how it is assessed). That way, she can investigate the different topics she will need to cover - allowing her to look up instructional videos, resources etc. online to support her learning.

Hope all goes well, and if she, or you, have any further questions let us know and the community here will do our best to help out

[Aaron]

Hi Potoroo,

I think the first thing you need to do is check whether the school allows early-access to Methods Units 3 and 4. Some schools allow this, and some don't for various reasons (e.g. timetable blocking design). If your daughter is that keen on doing 3/4 Methods and the school doesn't allow this, you may need to seek alternative options (e.g. through Distance Ed).

Doing all three maths in my opinion is quite redundant as only two can be counted in the top four subjects. Further/General is designed to be an "applied" option (an alternative to pure options such as Methods or Specialist).... meaning students who do Further/General don't necessarily require Maths Methods/Specialist as a prerequisite but still want some form of maths in their VCE (as it's not compulsory past Yr 10).

When I was in Year 10, I was advised to do General not Methods based on my lacklustre performance in Yr 10... for most people, Yr 10 isn't taken seriously. To this day, I regret listening to my Yr 10 maths teacher's advice as not doing Methods impacted my choice of course later on due to uni prerequisites. As a teacher now, I've had to do a lot of things from scratch which probably wouldn't have been necessary had I done methods.

Another point that needs to be made here: the level of difficulty differs from that seen in 7-10 and VCE. If your daughter can do work from the Methods 1&2 textbook (there's a few going around at the moment, the most common ones are Cambridge Senior Maths Methods Units 1 and 2 and Jacaranda Maths Quest 11 Maths Methods), then i'd say give it a shot.

Finally: It needs to be recognised that VCE subjects follow a specific structure as defined in the study design. Teachers have much more flexibility in Years 7 to 10 so you may find that this 'boredom' continues through the next few years.. and really this depends on a lot of things such as subject, teacher, etc. But being in a subject where you find the work too easy and boring definitely warrants the question, at least.

I would definitely be seeking the opinion of her current maths teacher as to future pathways/options and finding out whether 3/4 Methods in Year 11 is an actual possibility at your current school, again, some schools permit this and some don't. It might also be worth your daughter (or you) speaking to one of the current Methods teachers at your school to seek clarity on the commitment required, topics etc.

Good luck

[Potoroo]

Thanks for the feedback.
We have the support of a senior maths teacher who believes it is doable at our school and says he will support her in any way possible incl letting her work on methods work in her Yr 10 class! So that’s a good start.
She’s had a look at some chapters from the Methods 1 2 textbook and feels comfortable about working through them.
I think the feedback we received was emphasising too much the optimisation of marks without considering enough my daughters interest and aptitudes. Sure she might gets better result in Further 3,4 in yr 11 than in Methods, but what if that means she ends up dropping Spec to fit in her wider subject choices. Surely that’s not optimal either when she really enjoys maths.
So we will work through the steps.
Thanks again for your thoughts.
Cheers
Potoroo