Vision for Maths at The Wilnecote School

Mathematics is a creative and highly interconnected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems. It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology, and engineering and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. Our high-quality mathematics education, therefore, provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

Mathematics is an interconnected subject in which pupils learn to be able to move fluently between representations of mathematical ideas. We believe strongly in teaching for understanding and mastery of the subject. The programme of study for key stage 3 is sequenced into, what may appear to be distinct domains, but pupils build on key stage 2 and connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in solving increasingly sophisticated problems. The teaching for a sound knowledge of key concepts then enables students to access the Key Stage 4 Scheme of Work.

Our Key Stage 4 scheme of work is structured in a similar way to Key Stage 3 however, students will follow one of 2 routes on their learning journey. Route 1 is studied by GCSE foundation-level students and Route 2 is aimed at higher-level students. Both of these routes build on previously mastered topics where we retrieve, affirm and build on the knowledge and understanding as we progress through the curriculum. For example, when learning about and how to apply Pythagoras’ theorem in year 9, we need previous teaching from Numbers with an understanding of square numbers and square roots, from Algebra with the application of substitution and rearranging equations and from Geometry the knowledge of the properties of shapes and specifically triangles.

As students approach their final year at Key stage 4 they will follow a personalised scheme of learning that targets gaps in knowledge as identified by the thorough question level analysis (QLA) of each student’s performance in the frequent assessments that take place. This fully prepares them for success in their GCSE examination.

Pupils also learn to apply their mathematical knowledge in Science, Geography, Computing and other subjects.

 

Curriculum overview:

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.

· Reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.

· Solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and preserving in seeking solutions.

· Communicate, justify, argue and prove using mathematical vocabulary.

· Develop their character, including resilience, confidence, and independence, so that they contribute positively to the life of the school, their local community and the wider environment.

PEDAGOGY

Our pedagogy is underpinned by a mastery approach to the teaching of mathematics for understanding, a spiral curriculum basing future teaching on the building blocks taught previous concepts that are broken down into small connected and structured steps enabling application to a range of contexts and variation to develop deep and holistic understanding procedural fluency and repetition of key facts to free up working memory.

Manipulatives and multiple representations are used to build and scaffold learning, marking and feedback that informs planning and addresses misconceptions promptly, questioning planned intelligently, interventions that are timely, planned, and effective from PPE assessments data. As staff, we encourage students to see an error as a learning opportunity and are resilient in their learning, have constant focus on fact retrieval and have opportunities for pupils to reason and justify.

ENRICHMENT

We will enrich our curriculum by offering further opportunities for students to study mathematics whether with Further Mathematics, establishing cross-curricular links, especially through the learning of numerical skills and application in other areas and participating in national competitions to celebrate the best work and extraordinary effort, using external resources to enhance and support, independent learning and revision. The experience of practical implementation of mathematics in everyday life for financial and numerical confidence and security, opportunities to promote STEM and further/higher education learning and careers giving pupils the opportunity to mentor/be mentors by their peers.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Our curriculum will enable students to learn within a coherent and exciting framework which does not limit students’ ambitions. Students can develop new skills through a variety of interesting contexts to foster enjoyment, develop a rich deep and secure subject knowledge, understand what they are doing well and how they need to improve.

Students can explore the breadth and depth of the national curriculum, build on their understanding of the importance of British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and tolerance and respect, improve their spiritual, social, moral and cultural understanding to develop confidence in their own financial and numerical understanding.