Head Start books - worth it?

OP

Any opinions on just getting the revision books? They'd just cut down on the stuff I don't need to know then...right?

Reply 22

are you going to get them?xxxx

Reply 23

OP

The revision book, yeah why not, it's only £11 for all the ones I'll need next year for maths.

Reply 24

steffi.alexa

The revision book, yeah why not, it's only £11 for all the ones I'll need next year for maths.

£11 for all 3? which ones are you getting? x

Reply 25

OP

indie_couture

£11 for all 3? which ones are you getting? x

I'm getting the Heinemann revise for C1 and C2, but I don't know if WH Smith have the S1 one online... I still want to get a free book though lol

Reply 26

steffi.alexa

I'm getting the Heinemann revise for C1 and C2, but I don't know if WH Smith have the S1 one online... I still want to get a free book though lol

could you give me a link to them ? xxxx

Reply 27

OP

http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails-Heinemann+Modular+Maths+Edexcel+Revise+for+Core+Maths+1+-9780435511227.html

http://www.whsmith.co.uk/CatalogAndSearch/ProductDetails-Heinemann+Modular+Maths+Edexcel+Revise+for+Core+Maths+2+-9780435511234.html

Reply 28

OP

They don't do the S1 one...I got a book from my favourite book series instead lol.

Reply 29

OP

Okay, I've placed the order. I'll tell you what they're like when I get them! :biggrin:

Reply 30

steffi.alexa

Okay, I've placed the order. I'll tell you what they're like when I get them! :biggrin:

Thanks! xxxxxxxxx

Reply 31

John Locke

12

You'll be better off getting the workbook Heinemann books, much easier to self-teach from.

Reply 32

gdunne42

21

If you expect to get A or A* in maths then take the summer off - if you have a decent teacher then S1 and C1 will be easy. If you expect to get a B then the CGP Headstart book is useful to cover some of the higher stuff you may not have mastered.
Heinemann C1 and C2 text books were OK though some of the Exam level questions were taken from old Pure papers and are way harder than anything that comes up now, I found S1 too wordy and very difficult to self study from. They have reworked their text books for AS next year so don't know what the new versions are like.

Reply 33

OP

gdunne42

If you expect to get A or A* in maths then take the summer off - if you have a decent teacher then S1 and C1 will be easy. If you expect to get a B then the CGP Headstart book is useful to cover some of the higher stuff you may not have mastered.
Heinemann C1 and C2 text books were OK though some of the Exam level questions were taken from old Pure papers and are way harder than anything that comes up now, I found S1 too wordy and very difficult to self study from. They have reworked their text books for AS next year so don't know what the new versions are like.

That's the problem - the maths department didn't do as well as the rest of the school in a recent inspection, and it's easy to see why. They have about 9 teachers (for a small school), but most of them are very young with little knowledge of teaching.

There are a few brilliant teachers, but I know that I'll have one of the rubbish teachers for S1, and for C1 and C2 I don't know yet, so I want to try and understand some of the maths before September, which will also make me feel more comfortable in class. (My Mum is worried that I won't do well.)

I am predicted an A, but in the mocks I got a B (I did get an A in the Year 10 mocks lol), so I'd rather spend some of my very long (and likely to be very boring without my friends) summer doing some maths to ensure that I can do well next year. It'll also let me know if I won't be able to stand 9 hours of maths a fortnight, plus the same amount in my free time (maths department policy)

Reply 34

gdunne42

21

steffi.alexa

That's the problem - the maths department didn't do as well as the rest of the school in a recent inspection,

There are a few brilliant teachers, but I know that I'll have one of the rubbish teachers for S1

Bummer, make sure your algebra and trigonometry are awesome and C1 should be OK. The trickiest bit of S1 is the normal distribution, the formula booklet that's provided in the exam makes most of the the rest of S1 very straightforward. My best advice once you start the course would be to get your hands on as many past papers and mark schemes as you can and use your study time to practice exam technique. The same questions come up over and over again especially on C1 and S1.

Reply 35

OP

gdunne42

Bummer, make sure your algebra and trigonometry are awesome and C1 should be OK. The trickiest bit of S1 is the normal distribution, the formula booklet that's provided in the exam makes most of the the rest of S1 very straightforward. My best advice once you start the course would be to get your hands on as many past papers and mark schemes as you can and use your study time to practice exam technique. The same questions come up over and over again especially on C1 and S1.

I plan on being a total geek next year, so that should be okay lol :biggrin:

I think I'll go over all the GCSE stuff this year to brush up on all the stuff that's left my brain since the exams, look though my GCSE stats revision guide and then look through the C1 and C2 books this summer.

Reply 36

AJ-24

When I did my A-levels last year, I got the "Head Start" books from CGP, that allegedly 'bridge the gap' between GCSE and A-level ... But in all honesty, I didn't use them, because I also bought the AS-Level books for Chemistry, Maths and Physics.

I would reccommend them really (the AS-level CGP ones, NOT the head start), because if you've got a lot of time to kill, then you can easily learn some of the stuff for it. Only the advanced concepts need really good teaching, however a great deal of them you could learn yourself, or at least have a vague understanding of what you need to do :smile:

Just be careful that you don't get lazy at AS-level, if you've learned a lot of the stuff in the holiday :p:

I don't know if that helps :smile:

But hope so :smile:

Lol

Reply 37

OP

AJ-24

When I did my A-levels last year, I got the "Head Start" books from CGP, that allegedly 'bridge the gap' between GCSE and A-level ... But in all honesty, I didn't use them, because I also bought the AS-Level books for Chemistry, Maths and Physics.

I would reccommend them really (the AS-level CGP ones, NOT the head start), because if you've got a lot of time to kill, then you can easily learn some of the stuff for it. Only the advanced concepts need really good teaching, however a great deal of them you could learn yourself, or at least have a vague understanding of what you need to do :smile:

Just be careful that you don't get lazy at AS-level, if you've learned a lot of the stuff in the holiday :p:

I don't know if that helps :smile:

But hope so :smile:

Lol

Haha, no I won't be getting lazy - I will turn into Super Geek and use my super geek powers to help me pass my exams....Yeeeaaaah. No, I don't plan on getting lazy because next year onwards is really important.

Thanks for the advice - I will be looking through the revision books for next year's maths and my chemistry teacher said he'd put next year's resources on the school portal for us during the hols.

Reply 38

AJ-24

steffi.alexa

.

Thanks for the advice - I will be looking through the revision books for next year's maths and my chemistry teacher said he'd put next year's resources on the school portal for us during the hols.

Do you know what course you're doing for chemistry? We did the OCR Salter's course, and they made their own revision guides for the course, one for AS and one for A2. I used those far more than the CGP one, as it was tailored specifically for our course :smile:

(Saying that, the CGP ones are good because they cover ALL the courses :smile:

)

Reply 39

OP