Maths

Our aim in Key stage 3 is that students become confident and fluent in the foundations of mathematics. Through frequent practice, students will develop the skills to use the correct mathematical language and notation, to reason mathematically and solve increasingly complex problems over time. Students will be encouraged to identify cross curriculum opportunities and use their mathematical knowledge across all subject areas.

Students will also be encouraged to use and apply their problem solving, reasoning and knowledge to real life applications. Students will be able to start to make connections between the mathematics in the classroom and its applications within future jobs and careers.

Intent

We reject the idea that some pupils ‘just can’t do maths’. We believe that through hard work all pupils can improve their

understanding and be successful.

Our aim is to support our pupils to develop a long-term, secure and adaptable understanding of mathematics. This is achieved through developing their fluency, mathematical reasoning and the ability to solve problems in unison.

All students are expected to actively engage and participate in their learning.
Students should be mathematically fluent and are able to communicate effectively both orally and on paper
Students are provided with regular opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding independently
Classrooms are positive and safe learning environments, where it is encouraged to take risks and build resilience

Implementation

In order to achieve this, we have introduced a 5-year scheme of learning which builds on KS2; provides coverage of the National Curriculum and GCSE Curriculum; and prepares them for Mathematics Post 16. It is a spiral curriculum that focuses on depth before breadth, sequenced using interleaving that ensures students:

Are presented with consistent methods and key layouts to aid understanding and reduce cognitive load.
Are always equipped with the prerequisite knowledge required to effectively approach new problems.
Are constantly provided with opportunities to recall, retrieval and interweave their knowledge and skills.

It begins by building on key KS2 number topics throughout Year 7 as well as introducing and developing core algebra skills. All students move forward together by being offered scaffolded tasks as well as strengthen and deepen material to deepen understanding rather than moving onto new topics. The scheme of learning moves from the simple to the complex within and across the 5 years.

Following a spiral curriculum enables pupils to master concepts and ideas, revisiting topics to ensure that a greater depth of knowledge is gained. Students who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged through rich and challenging tasks within the same narrow focus before any acceleration through new content is considered. Those who are not sufficiently fluent consolidate their understanding before moving on.

Each lesson begins with a review of previous learning, of varying recency, designed to strengthen recall and develop well- connected mathematical knowledge. Students are regularly assessed through no and low stakes quizzes and feedback is provided promptly to allow effective re-teaching and ensure that every student knows where to improve.

Impact

We are unapologetic about the spiral nature of our mathematics curriculum. Students learn the key concepts and processes identified in the national curriculum and then engage with them at a deeper level every year throughout their 5-year journey. Following a spiral curriculum enables students to master concepts and ideas, revisiting topics to ensure that a greater depth of knowledge are gained whilst viewing mathematics as interconnected skills rather than disparate topics . Students who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged through rich and challenging tasks with the same narrow focus before accelerating through new content is considered.

Retrieval practice is a feature of every lessons using Do Now activities to secure the retention of core knowledge. These tasks are designed to strengthen recall and develop well-connected mathematical knowledge and questions are cleverly written to ensure that threshold concepts are interwoven throughout independent practice. All Trust schools use Sparx homework, a retrieval-based platform that individualises tasks for the students ensuring they are always challenged appropriately.

The TWT curriculum covers the National Curriculum and beyond split into five key areas: Number, Algebra, Geometry, Ratio & Proportion and Data Handling. Each of these areas is covered several times over the course of key stage 3 and 4 to ensure that pupils regularly revisit and progressively extend their knowledge in each area simultaneously. This encourages pupils to gain confidence with each topic in incremental steps and the regular data cycles provide opportunities for them to reflect on their learning and set targets for future improvement.

KS3 Curriculum Content

The Maths department will prepare students to become confident, numerate individuals who are able to deal with all aspects of mathematics in their chosen career and in all aspects of their adult life. Through great quality teaching and high expectations students will be challenged and motivated to achieve their full potential. As well as developing mathematical skills students will also be encouraged to develop transferable skills such as communication, resilience, problem solving and creative thinking.

During key stage 3 students will build on and extend their mathematical knowledge acquired from primary school. In years 7-9, students will follow the Kangaroo Maths scheme of work, gradually building their knowledge of the key principles of number, algebra, ratio & proportion, geometry, probability and statistics. In lessons, new concepts will be broken down into key ‘chunks’ and presented in logical steps, allowing for a deeper understanding of topics and subject mastery.

At the end of the year 9, students will be ready to move onto key stage 4 and continue working towards their GCSEs having developed a strong understanding of the fundamentals of mathematics.

There are three assessments throughout the year. All assessments will have an element of multiple choice questions that will require students to recall facts, formulae and definitions from their knowledge organisers. The test will then comprise of mathematical questions to assess their understanding and application. Students will be given a Question Level Analysis sheet after all assessments informing them of their progress on each question topic. All topics will have links to Hegarty clip numbers enabling students to proactively tackle their personalised areas for improvement.

Students will have the opportunity to enter national competitions run by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) to compete with young inspired mathematicians from around the country.

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

KS4 Curriculum Content

During Key Stage 4 students will consolidate and extend their mathematical capabilities from Key Stage 3. Students will be extending their knowledge across all domains in mathematics and develop their ability to move freely between numerical, algebraic, graphical and diagrammatic representations.

Students will also develop their reasoning skills partially in ratio and proportion as well as algebraic. Students will make and test conjectures and generalizations that underline patterns and relationships and will be able to prove or give counter examples and use algebra to support their arguments.

Students will further develop their problem-solving skills by selecting correct concepts and methods, as well as interpreting their results in a range of mathematical representations.

In Year 10 the first and assessments in the year will have an element of multiple choice questions that will require students to recall facts, formulae and definitions from their knowledge organisers. The test will then comprise of mathematical questions to assess their understanding and application. Their final assessment in Year 10 will be a mock comprising of three 90 minute papers (Paper 1: Non-calculator, Paper 2 and 3: Calculator).

In Year 11 students will do a full mock comprising of three 90 minute papers (Paper 1: Non-calculator, Paper 2 and 3: Calculator) for their first and second assessments. Their final assessment of the year will be their end of year GCSE exam, this again follows the same format of three papers as with their mocks.

Students will be given a Question Level Analysis sheet after all assessments informing them of their progress on each question topic. All topics will have links to Hegarty clip numbers enabling students to proactively tackle their personalised areas for improvement.

Students will have the opportunity to enter national competitions run by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) to compete with young inspired mathematicians from around the country.

Year 10

Year 11

KS5 Curriculum Content

A- Level mathematics builds on from GCSE level mathematics and introduces the new areas of mathematics such as calculus. Many university course desire students to have an A-Level in mathematics which opens up many career opportunities for young people. During the course students will be encouraged to understand how mathematical ideas are interconnected and how they can use models and algebra to make sense of the world around them.

During key stage 5 students will consolidate, extend and apply their mathematical capabilities from the higher maths GCSE. In the first year students will be introduced to calculus, including differentiation and integration. Students will then use this to solve real life problems found in engineering and other industries. In the applied modules, mechanics and statistics students will begin to use mathematical models to solve real life problems, such as hypothesis testing and resolving forces using Newton’s laws. In the second year of the course students will build on their knowledge from year 1. Students will begin to use further differentiation and integration methods, explore Pascal’s triangle for binomial expansion as well as vectors in 3 dimensions. The applied models will build further on content from year 12 introducing more concepts. Students will be given the skills to make mathematical assumptions, use mathematical models and analyse solution to then apply them to real life situations.

Students will have 3 assessment spread throughout the year. These will be in the style of the examination that takes place at the end of their course. Each assessment will contain elements from the Pure, Statistics and Mechanics modules. At the end of year 12 students will compete a full AS-Level mock paper. Following all assessments students will be given a Question Level Analyses sheet informing them of their progress on each question topic. Students can then use this to proactively tackle areas for development using Integral maths as well as other support material provided.

Students will have the opportunity to enter the senior national maths competition run by the United Kingdom Mathematics Trust (UKMT) to compete with other young inspired mathematician from around the country. Students will also be invited to attend university days to discover opportunities with mathematics.