2nd Year Maths — What You Need to Know

My abiding memory of 2nd year was involved dealing with spots the size of craters on the moon. God, the trauma….

Teaching 2nd years for the last 13 years, I can tell you it’s the year most problems in Maths begin. The Maths standard is upped and students begin to either struggle or thrive.

I’m here to make this simple for you, as a parent. Here’s what you can expect in 2nd year.

The Wonderful CBA’s

The CBA’s (Continuous based assessments) begin in 2nd year. This causes dread and fear amongst a lot of students …. deadlines, worries around what to write on, worries around the quality of your Maths…….. it’s all very common. You are not alone.

But can I just say one thing — I love the CBA’s. I really do. They provide the only real opportunity in the school system to make Maths engaging. To relate Maths to the student’s personal interests. That’s powerful.

Now, how do you best go about the CBA’s? Well, the most important thing is to do your CBA on something that your child is actually interested in. Teachers can spot projects parents have completed. You can’t hide it.

Keep it simple. Pick a topic your child does activities in. Maybe it’s the local dance academy, drama society, farming, GAA… whatever…. but make sure it reflects your child’s interests. After that, just keep it simple. Keep the Maths really standard stuff, no need to go re-inventing the formula for relativity. Keep it structured and tidy – read over for spelling mistakes and make sure the diagrams are kept clean.

Keep it simple and fun — don’t overthink those CBA’s.

2nd Year Christmas Tests

In the intervening 12 to 13 weeks prior to the Christmas tests, all your child will really do is Algebra. That’s right — it’s all Algebra in most schools.

So, if you can get the Algebra right, you are well set. Make sure your child is OK on topics like Algebraic Division, Algebraic Fractions, Simultaneous Equations, Factorising and Algebraic word problems. Check out these notes for more help.

2nd Year Summer Tests

Summer tests in 2nd year are generally quite challenging. It’s often one of the big opportunity’s in school to differentiate your child into Higher and Ordinary level. So, be prepared — this exam will hard.

Now, what will come up? Well I can guarantee you that Algebra is still the foundation of the exam. You will also see a huge focus on Functions, Co-Ordinate Geometry and Financial Maths. And if your child has completed Trigonometry, then that’s a certainty too. Here’s a rundown of the overall Junior Cycle curriculum.

Listen, it’s all previous exam questions on this exam. Teachers won’t be making these questions up from thin air. If you want to get well-prepared, start working on exam questions from examinations.ie. Keep this simple.

Formulas To Know

You really just need to know about Co-ordinate Geometry, Area and Volume and Trigonometry.

They give you the Maths log tables inside the exam.

But, don’t be fooled.

You need to be comfortable with the log tables. Too often, students spend 10 minutes just trying to find a formula. They assume they know it and they get caught out in the exam. Nothing worse!

Check out all those formulas here.

Algebra – The Important Topics

Make sure you are well versed in topics such as:

4 forms of factorising
Simultaneous Equations
linear equations
Working with Inequalities.

I make all these topics really easy for you in this checklist 👇

Scanning The Paper

Lads, scan the paper for 10-minutes at the start of your exam.

It’s the most important thing you can do.

And scanning is a skill. Here’s how you scan an exam properly:

How to scan an Exam