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OFSTED OUTSTANDING

Mathematics

Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe — Galilee Galilei

Mathematics is the most beautiful and most powerful creation of the human spirit. — Stefan Banach, Polish mathematician

I find it interesting because I learn lots of new stuff and I learn the benefits of doing it. — Year 8 student

Welcome

Mr Briscoe and the Mathematics department would like to give a warm welcome to our curriculum site. We aim to provide a stimulating, safe and happy environment in which pupils and staff can strive to achieve their full potential. Mathematics affects every aspect of our lives: wages, phone tariffs, computers, journey times, budgeting, cooking etc. In order to function effectively in modern society, it is essential to be competent and confident with Mathematics.

The vision of the Department is not only to provide pupils with the mathematical skills necessary for modern life but also to instil in them an enthusiasm and enjoyment for mathematics. Our Mathematics department aims to shape our students into able problem solvers, logical thinkers and lifelong mathematicians as a product of inspirational and reflective teaching. We aim to set challenging targets with high expectations for all pupils which are achieved through a variety of approaches to teaching and learning that will engage, motivate and inspire. Our passionate department aim to share their knowledge by relating Mathematics to real life. If you have any questions or require advice, please contact Mr Briscoe on rbr@allhallows.lancs.sch.uk

Staffing

We have six full time and one part time members of staff who deliver the full Mathematics curriculum at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4.

  • Mr R Briscoe BSc (Head of Department)
  • Mrs M Salisbury BSc (Second in Department)
  • Mrs S Walsh BSc (Numeracy Coordinator)
  • Mr P Woolfenden BSc (Maths ITT Mentor)
  • Mr D Burgess BEng (Teacher of Mathematics)
  • Mrs J D’Arcy BSc (Teacher of Mathematics)
  • Mrs J O’Brien BSc (Teacher of Mathematics)

Accommodation/ICT facilities

The Maths Department has six teaching rooms, one of which includes a suite of 18 computers. Each room has an interactive whiteboard where a variety of Maths-specific software is used to support the teaching of the curriculum. All pupils entering the school are given a Maths Watch VLE login and password so that they can support their learning at home. It is also used for independent learning, targeted revision, and specific intervention.

Intent / Implementation / Impact

IntentImplementationImpact

Intent

The core purpose of our curriculum is to nurture and instill the values and qualities outlined in our Mission Statement; to grow morally, intellectually, and spiritually and to leave us as young people, equipped to take their place in society. We strive to build their resilience and confidence and encourage them to achieve the very best that they are capable of.

Growing

  • We aim to develop a growth mindset and promote students to take risks in their learning. We encourage pupils to be reflective learners; celebrating and building on their successes, whilst also being able to identify and improve on their mistakes.
  • We link current learning to future topics and further education and careers. It is our aim that Mathematics and Numeracy should not be a barrier to the future success of our students. We believe that mathematics and numeracy are vital in enabling students to grow into financially secure, healthy young adults.

Together

  • All full-time mathematics teachers are subject specialists and boast over 150 years of teaching experience across the department. We aim to celebrate and utilise our combination of expertise and experience by working collaboratively to develop resources that can be used consistently across all learners.
  • Links with Primary schools are ongoing. Staff visit schools and meet with Primary teachers to adapt our provision with changing needs within the Key Stage 2 curriculum.
  • We have developed links with local business and further education providers to enable us to provide varied opportunities for our students to explore maths and numeracy beyond the classroom.

In the Spirit of Christ’s love

  • As a Catholic community, our faith is at the heart of everything that we do. We strive to teach our students to have faith in themselves and their abilities.
  • We believe that all our students are created in the image of God and it is our aim to continuously seek opportunities to celebrate the unique successes and efforts of individuals.

Implementation

Our main intention when designing a maths curriculum is that students are able to enjoy the maths that they are taught and see its relevance to them, whilst progressing in a logical manner through topics and being able to link them together to solve problems. Pupils need to understand the journey they are on and where the skills they are learning may be applied. It is important that our students have an understanding of where the maths they learn is used in a real-life context and where it is used in other subjects.

The curriculum

  • Students will complete a 3-year Key Stage 3 course. This ensures there is sufficient opportunities for pupils to develop a deeper and broader understanding of key skills through retrieval and interweaving of topics.
  • At Key Stage 4, groups are split into the two tiers of entry: Foundation and Higher. With those on the borderline of entry, following a crossover scheme of work.
  • Across all year groups, pupils follow a spiral curriculum that exposes the learners into a wide variety of concepts and disciplines, until they are mastered by studying it repeatedly but with different deepening of complexity.
  • We follow an explicit structure to our curriculum. However, flexibility is allowed when deviation from this structure would enhance learning. We also ensure that the questioning of students allows for a deeper understanding and identifies any misconceptions that arise.
  • We “assess not assume” prior knowledge. In order to ensure that students without prior knowledge are not left behind without the tools they need to access the curriculum, pupils are supported by the use of scaffolding.

Assessment for Learning

  • Formative and summative assessments inform the teaching and planning.
  • Quality verbal and written feedback is given to each student outlining their specific needs and providing structured intervention tasks.
  • Questioning techniques allow for a deeper understanding and identify misconceptions that arise.

Retrieval and Recall

  • Opportunities for retrieval and recall are provided in the majority of lessons at both key stages. Lesson starters pose questions from last lesson, last week, last month and last year. This allows pupils to review work and leads to further discussions around topics.
  • Homework is set on a weekly basis and all year groups work through a booklet of key skills. This allows the class teacher and the pupils to see which skills need to be re-visited and developed further.

Vocabulary

  • Language helps children make sense when they need to use mathematics. Having a clear picture of the useful mathematics concepts is a key aspect. Throughout the development of mathematical ideas, we must keep the language growing. As the language grows, the picture of the idea broadens and the thinking expands.
  • Keywords are displayed at the front of each maths classroom with a definition attached. They are changed on a weekly basis. This often prompts discussion with classes.
  • Key words are discussed each lesson, with clear definitions given.

Enrichment

  • We aim to encourage a love of learning both in maths and in general. As part of this, provoke curiosity in how things work and how real-life problems are defined and solved through our teaching and our enrichment activities. Some examples include Maths week, Pi day and Money Matters.

Teamwork

  • Teamwork is fundamental within our department. We share resources and support each other to achieve a cohesive delivery of the curriculum. We regularly discuss and revisit ideas during department meetings as well as on a day to day informal basis in order to enhance our teaching.

Impact

GCSE Results 2022 9-7 9-6 9-5 9-4 9-1
% 32.4 52.3 73.9 86.4 99.4

 Our subject progress index (SPI) was +0.2

 The curriculum

  • As a result of our Maths teaching at All Hallows you will see students that are engaged and challenged.
  • Students will cover the entire national curriculum.
  • Pupils follow the correct pathway to maximise their attainment.
  • Pupils have opportunities to revisit and master key concepts.
  • Teaching is flexible to enhance individual needs.
  • Effective questioning to allow students to express deeper understanding.
  • Pupils will be at a point that they can access each lesson. Teaching to the top but scaffolding in place.

Assessment for Learning

  • Teachers using assessments to inform future planning.
  • Individual feedback that allows students to identify their personalised journey pathway.
  • Misconceptions identified and corrected.
  • Learning that is tracked and monitored to ensure all children make good progress.

Retrieval and Recall

  • Students who are able to recall key skills, be fluent in the fundamentals of Mathematics, reason Mathematically and solve problems by applying their skills to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increased sophistication.
  • Students who are confident with their Mathematics.

Vocabulary

  • Students who can use the correct Mathematical terminology when explaining methods, when reasoning and when problems solving.

Enrichment

  • Opportunities for pupils to develop skills and enjoy Maths outside of the usual classroom timetable.

Teamwork

  • Good quality, positive relationships between staff members and with pupils, igniting an interest in the subject.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum

All pupils follow the New National Curriculum (revised July 2014) which can be accessed using the following link:

Key Stage 3

The topics covered across Key Stage 3 will broadly be the same, but will be covered in more depth depending on each individual’s starting point and as they progress from Year 7 through to Year 9.

Context lessons will be included to expand on Real, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and financial maths.

Maths KS3 Content

Key Stage 4 Curriculum

All pupils in Year 11 and subsequent years follow the New National Curriculum (revised July 2014) with first teaching beginning September 2015. The first GCSE assessment, following the new criteria, took place in June 2017. The specification that pupils will be following is Pearson Edexcel Level 1/Level 2 GCSE (9-1) in Mathematics (1MA1). This can be accessed via the following link:

Pearson Edexcel Mathematics (9-1)

There are still two tiers of entry: Foundation (grade 1 to 5) and Higher (grade 4 to 9). For both tiers of entry, pupils follow a two year course culminating in three examinations at the end of Year 11. The final grade will be awarded on the basis of combined marks scored on a 1 hour 30 minute Non-Calculator paper and two 1 hour 30 minute Calculator papers. Each paper is scored out of 80 marks and will have equal weighting. For the pupils that are borderline between Foundation and Higher, they will follow a “Crossover” Scheme of Work, focussing on Foundation topics in Year 10 before building on Higher content in Year 11. This allows us to select the most appropriate tier for their final examination.

Maths KS4 Content

Teaching groups

In Years 7 and 8, pupils are streamed across all subjects by overall ability. This is revisited regularly, and we ensure pupils are in the best group for their ability. In Year 7 pupils in the top four sets have 3 Maths lesson per week, pupils in the bottom three sets have 4 Maths lessons a week with an added focus on Numeracy. In Year 8, all pupils have four lessons of Maths a week.

In Year 9 we set purely on Mathematics ability in two parallel bands and we also have a nurture group which focus more on Numeracy skills with the rest of the curriculum built around this. All pupils follow the same content, but higher groups can go into greater depth within the same topics. Again, these are evaluated on a regular basis. All pupils have 4 lessons of Maths a week.

In Years 10 and 11 we set across the whole year group. Our higher sets follow the Higher GCSE content, our lower groups follow the Foundation GCSE content and our middle groups follow a crossover curriculum in which they complete Foundation in Year 10 and build on this with Higher material in Year 11 with the intent of sitting the Higher Papers for GCSE. These sets are chosen to ensure the best outcomes for each pupil. In year 10 and 11, pupils have 4 lessons of Maths a week. However, from September 2023, Year 11 pupils will have 5 lessons of Maths a week.

Assessment

Pupils will be assessed through:

  • Teacher assessment of classwork and homework
  • Teacher observation in lessons
  • Teacher/student discussions about their learning
  • Student performance in formative and summative assessments and examinations, including Mock examinations.

Pupils are assessed regularly so that staff can see clearly which elements of the curriculum the class or individual pupils need extra support and informs their future teaching.

To aid pupils in Key Stage 3, we allow them to bring in notes to any formative assessment. This is an A4 size piece of paper with notes and examples summarised. This makes assessments less stressful and also teaches revision techniques from an early age.

After each formative assessment, an individual area of focus will be pinpointed for each pupil and a way of improving it set as homework.

After every summative assessment, they will be given a personal QLA (Question Level Analysis) which will inform them of their strengths and areas to improve.

Careers, Numeracy and Literacy

Mathematics is key in any career. We teach invaluable skills in any work place and within each topic we look at how and why each skill we learn can be implemented in the work place. Careers that require Mathematics can be found in almost every field including Engineering, Medical, Government, Business and Research. It is not just the Mathematics curriculum that employers see in GCSE Mathematics but also the transferable skills e.g. Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Logic, Communication, Reasoning and Time Management.

You can find further information on our Careers page here.

Numeracy and Mathematics go hand in hand, and we ensure time is dedicated to Numeracy within our curriculum. Our Numeracy Coordinator ensures that we see Numeracy across the curriculum. Please see the Numeracy page here.

Reading is a key skill across the whole curriculum and a priority for our department in ensuring maximum progress. Please see the Literacy page here.

How Parents can help

It can sometimes be difficult to know how best to support your child with their Mathematics, so please do not hesitate to contact Mr Briscoe if you have any concerns. However, there is a plethora of online platforms that can help with Maths from building confidence with basic skills to revising for an Advanced Algebra qualification. Listed below are some of the sites we use or recommend.

Mathswatch (also on an app) – Mathswatch

Sumdog (Year 7 have a username and password) – Sumdog

Mathsgenie – Maths Genie

Corbett Maths – Corbettmaths

OnMaths – Onmaths

BBC Bitesize GCSE – BitesizeGCSE

BBC Bitesize KS3 – BitesizeKS3

Revision Maths – GCSE Maths Revision

We also run a lunchtime club where pupils can get assistance with homework, revision for assessments, lessons they have been struggling with or just chance to play Mathematical games to enhance their skills. This runs every lunchtime in room 12 between 12.35pm and 1pm.

Extra-curricular activities and Enrichment

The school have entered the following Mathematics competitions:

  • UKMT Maths Challenges at Junior and Intermediate level
  • Year 7 and Year 9 Able and Talented Maths Challenges – locally organised
  • Year 11 Runshaw College Maths Challenge
  • Year 10 FMSP Challenge at Cardinal Newman College
  • The inaugural LUSOM Maths Challenge at Cardinal Newman College.
  • Online Sumdog challenges.

Other regular activities include:

  • Year 7 pupils take part in World Maths Day
  • All pupils have the opportunity to celebrate World Pi Day
  • All pupils have the opportunity to attend STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) club
  • Year 10’s become Maths Buddy’s to selected Year 7 pupils.
  • Year 7 pupils will have an opportunity to achieve Bronze, Silver and Gold awards for numeracy.
  • Teacher led intervention program for Year 11 students.
  • Number confidence week with support for families and feeder primaries.
  • Numeracy themed weeks across all curriculum areas.
  • NSPCC Number day activities for feeder Primary schools..
  • International Women’s day with a focus on STEM careers.
  • My money week with enrichment lessons focussed on Financial Maths.