We believe that students deserve a creative and ambitious mathematics curriculum, rich in skills and knowledge, which ignites curiosity and prepares them well for everyday life and future employment. Our mathematics curriculum will give students the opportunity to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately.

Our key aims from the curriculum follow the federation’s ASPIRE strapline.

AMBITION – We want our students to be driven and to explore how mathematics is linked to every aspect of life and the exciting career opportunities that become available.
SUCCESS – Understanding the role of mathematics in our world and the wider society, thus enabling our students to apply logic and problem solving skills learnt through mathematical techniques
PROGRESS – Knowledge and understanding of key mathematical skills and concepts allowing pupils to grow into logical thinkers, problem solvers and numerically confident human beings.
INSPIRATION – Motivate students to see mathematics beyond the classroom and to ignite and sustain a love for mathematics.
RESPECT – Students’ lessons will be based on mutual respect. We will nurture academic and personal confidence by allowing all students to feel confident even when mistakes are made and use resilience in solving problems.
EQUALITY – Every pupil is given the same opportunities to achieve regardless of their background. Through our curriculum, pupils appreciate their equality but recognise the inequality that exists locally and globally.

What do we expect students to get from Maths?

Deep Understanding

Our practice embeds the importance of deep understanding , as equating progress with learning new procedures and rules means many students will miss out on a depth of understanding. We achieve this by allowing the pupils to represent concepts in a variety of different ways using both objects and pictures.

Mathematical thinking

We believe that it is essential for students to develop mathematical thinking in and out of the classroom to fully master mathematical concepts. We want students to think like mathematicians, not just DO the maths. We believe that during the learning experience students should: explore, wonder, question, conjecture, experiment and make theories in order to guide their own journey.

Mathematical Language

We believe that pupils should be encouraged to use mathematical language throughout their maths learning to deepen their understanding of concepts.

The way students speak and write about mathematics has been shown to have an impact on their success in mathematics.. We therefore use a carefully sequenced, structured approach to introducing and reinforcing mathematical vocabulary throughout maths lessons, so students have the opportunity to work with word problems from the beginning of their learning.

How does learning develop over the five years?

Year 7:

In our secondary curriculum, we start with algebra as this is key to the secondary curriculum as well as being comparatively new for pupils. Again we carefully order the skills – understanding notation, one-step equations, then two-step equations etc., revisiting the concepts in other areas of the curriculum and making sure that topics are covered so pupils experience variety as well as consolidation. Number is revisited and developed further as we explore directed number and types of number.

Year 8:

These concepts are taken further in year 8 as we build on number skills with fractions and standard form as well as sequences. New algebraic concepts like the Cartesian Plane are introduced while sequences are explored further. Topics such as data are built on from year 7.

Year 9:

They will develop their skills in ‘working mathematically’. Develop fluency in the number system, the language of algebra and mathematical terminology.

Practise their mathematical reasoning; making links between numerical, algebraic and graphical representations, deducing mathematical relationships and constructing mathematical proofs or counter examples.

Develop their problem solving skills and begin to model problems mathematically. These skills are particularly important, both as students progress through their mathematical studies as well as throughout their lives. Problem solving questions and word problems feature widely in GCSE papers as a way of testing students’ understanding of maths topics and their ability to work mathematically.

Reasoning and deduction, along with the ability to form arguments and solve problems are skills that will benefit our children for the whole of their lifetime. Students should be given the opportunity to develop these skills throughout different areas of the Year 9 maths curriculum by getting them regularly thinking about applied questions and solving problems.

Year 10/11:

Students will enter Y10 with a certain set of ingrained attitudes and habits towards maths. The curriculum is formed of two closely related overlapping strands. They are carefully designed to maximise progression and allow flexibility. The Foundation Strand- By the end of year 11 the Foundation strand will cover all the content in the Foundation GCSE allowing students to attain a grade 5. The Higher Strand all of the Higher GCSE content is covered allowing access for students all the way to Grade 9. Some content will inevitably be covered earlier in the Higher Strand than in the Foundation Strand. For those students not yet attaining as highly as their peers, there will be more time for consolidating and revisiting concepts before moving on to new concepts. We firmly believe that all students can achieve in Mathematics. The scheme may be challenging for some, however we feel that the vast majority should be aiming for this standard.

How is the timetabled curriculum supplemented or enriched by other approaches to learning?

Some Maths topics lend themselves especially well to meaningful, real-world contexts, such as arithmetic, ratio and proportion and geometry. For example we show real life videos to classes and we are now in the process of developing as a faculty the meaning behind the Maths. “What’s the Point” maths display posters. 3D displays to provoke links between Maths and other subjects. We are also developing resources that will be used in lessons so that all teachers can articulate how careers are linked to the topics we teach. We are in the process of pioneering STEM days so that students can have a more rounded view of the curriculum. We will be working with Science, Technology and Computer Science to develop an extensive programme for years 7-10.

In what ways does our curriculum help to develop resilience and problem solving?

Problem solving is at the heart of mathematics. By structuring our curriculum so that all students in a year group are learning the same content at the same time, they have longer to focus on each topic. Our aim is to create the optimal conditions for students to learn through problem solving and to learn to solve problems to develop lifelong transferable skills. Throughout our curriculum we also aim to ensure our pupils gain a love and appreciation for all the mathematics around them and will fully enjoy mathematics.

What forms do assessments take? What is the purpose of assessment?

All students will sit the Edexcel GCSE Mathematics (1MA1) specification. You can access a detailed copy of the specification on the Edexcel Website Edexcel GCSE and GCE 2014. There are two tiers of entry available to students. GCSE Mathematics has a Foundation tier (grades 1 – 5) and a Higher tier (grades 3 – 9). Students must take three question papers at the same tier.

Each paper has a mix of question styles, from short, single-mark questions to multi-step problems. The mathematical demand increases as a student progresses through the paper. Content from any part of the specification may be assessed on each paper. Paper 1 is non calculator whereas papers 2 and 3 are calculator papers. All papers are 1hour and 30 minutes long and are worth 80 marks each.

How do we know if we have a successful curriculum?

Our curriculum is based on the government guidelines for GCSE Maths. We are using the Sparx Maths curriculum Scheme for KS3, and the White Rose curriculum Scheme for KS4. This curriculum provides ample opportunity for us to assess and ensure that students are on the correct course to match and meet their ability(Higher or Foundation). We also prepare students for Higher or further education with links being made to the VI Form curriculum. We are also preparing them for their own real life experiences. We have adapted our curriculum and pedagogy where necessary and will continue to do so to ensure positive outcomes for all students. Both the Sparx Maths and the White Rose schemes of work for maths allow us to sequence lessons so that prior learning links to current learning. Students will be able to articulate and recognise skills acquired in previous lessons. A large Majority of students will demonstrate strong independent learning skills with sustained responsibility to apply their learning to real life and make connections between areas of learning for deeper meaningful mathematical experience. 

How do we support ‘High Attaining’ pupils?

Our classroom strategies for challenging all students, particularly the HAPs include:

• Rich questioning techniques to elicit higher level responses
• Higher order and abstract thinking skills
• Problem solving and enquiry
• Development of language skills, particularly with advanced subject specific vocabulary
• Development of meta-cognition techniques
• Support for transference of skills across curriculum areas.