Mathematics

The Mathematics Department photo - display 1   

In the KEVI Mathematics department we believe maths is for everyone! We combine engaging activities which are differentiated for students of all abilities with high quality resources in order for our students to reach their full potential. Our curriculum is driven by Functional Mathematics to enable students to experience Mathematics in a variety of real world concepts and to embed problem-solving into our lessons to stimulate challenging minds.

Not everything that counts can be counted. Not everything that can be counted counts – Einstein

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new – Einstein

There are two ways to do great mathematics. The first is to be smarter than everybody else. The second way is to be stupider than everybody else but persistent. Raoul Bott

Mathematics staff:

Mrs A. Dowen (Acting Head of Department)
Maths website pic

Mrs N. Cooper (Acting Head of Department)

Mr A. Hayward (Key Stage Coordinator)

Mr P. Cotton (Assistant Headteacher)

Miss J. Williamson (Sixth Form Achievement Leader)

Mr J. Coombes (Teacher of Mathematics)

Mrs L. Taylor (Teacher of Mathematics)

Mrs J. Cheatham (Teacher of Mathematics)

Mrs R. Booker (Teacher of Mathematics)

Mr A. Cottier-Cooper (Teacher of Mathematics)

Mrs A. Khera (Teacher of Mathematics)

Mr C. Owen (Teacher of Mathematics)

King Edward Mathematics Department Curriculum Overview

Intent

To inspire students to become life-long learners and achieve mastery across core numerical processes. We want to enable curious minds with problems of desirable difficulty whilst supporting those who need more scaffolding in their learning in order for all students to achieve their maximum potential. Our goal is to instil a passion for mathematics in our students and to develop skills for life, confidence and ultimately enjoyment of the subject. 

Implementation 

Our Mathematics curriculum at King Edward VI has been designed with an emphasis on the non-negotiable mathematical skills so our students can become masters of each strand and have the versatility to interchange between different mathematical skills within a problem. We incorporate repetition of skills to embed knowledge and have created a carefully sequenced curriculum to build upon prior skills. We intend to facilitate in-depth understanding by modelling new concepts and using a variety of different questioning techniques whilst still creating an enjoyable learning experience with varied tasks featuring across lessons. Problem solving features heavily within the curriculum and we aim to develop students’ deeper mathematical reasoning skills and create an enjoyment and curiosity about the subject. Functional mathematics is also incorporated into our curriculum to give students ‘real life’ applications of where they see maths in the world around them. 

Embedding literacy 

It is vitally important that students can present a mathematical argument clearly, showing clear logical steps and by using appropriate mathematical vocabulary. Within our curriculum, we will model how to form a logical proof, such as forming an angle proof, using systematic steps, giving a reason using key words at every stage. Students also have the opportunity to form a written argument by making comparisons and explaining the limitations behind a mathematical model with staff modelling good practice. By embedding problem solving into our lessons we create opportunities for students to read and extract key information and then encourage fluent mathematical literacy within clear logical steps for presenting their working out and solutions. 

Encouraging independence 

Our aim is to create learners that are motivated to further their learning beyond the classroom. Students will be encouraged to complete pieces of work that focus on retrieval of key stills that have been modelling in lessons to embed knowledge to long-term memory. Our aim is to also get students using multiple areas of maths needed to tackle problem solving questions, where students will create their own independent solutions.  

Enrichment  

Students across the school are encouraged to take part in the UKMT maths challenge which we enter every year allowing students to work independently on problem solving activities or as part of a group in the team challenge. We also take part in the Big Maths Feast every year and have had external speakers visit the school to inspire students with where maths can take them beyond the classroom. 

 

Key Stage 3

Year 7

Year 8

Assessment

Students are assessed both summatively on a termly basis but also formatively using participation in lessons and homework’s.

The style of assessments vary across year 7 and year 8 with a mixture of teacher assessed and self-assessed tasks using the Hegarty maths online platform. Our teacher assessed tasks can range from a set of questions on a topic to a creative piece requiring the students to model questions they have seen in class. Students may also be set a revision piece of work prior to termly summative assessments. As students’ progress into year 9, many of the assessments will be centred on practice GCSE questions to prepare them for Key Stage 4.

Year 7 will be assessed using the following banding:

Year 7 1

 

Year 7 2

Year 7 3

Year 7 4

Year 8 will be assessed using the following banding:

Year 8 1

Year 8 2

Year 8 3

Year 8 4

Year 8 5

Homework

Homework set in mathematics is designed to allow students to factually recall and become fluent in the concepts studied within their classwork but also to give opportunities for students to develop their own independent line of enquiry in order to solve a problem. Homework tasks can vary in style and may take one of the following forms:

  • An online task
  • Completing a written exercise
  • A problem solving task
  • Research into similar questions completed in class
  • Design of a mathematical game/ puzzle
  • Revision for a test

All homework will be set on Show my homework for both students and parents to view.

 

 

Key stage 4

In our Key Stage 4 curriculum, we follow the AQA specification for Mathematics. This specification is a three-year course started in year 9 that is examined at the end of year 11. The course consists of three exam papers (1 non-calculator and 2 calculator papers) all equally weighted and will cover the content from the whole specification. The examination is formed of two tiers, Foundation ranging from grades 1 – 5 and Higher ranging from grades 4 – 9. Decisions made as to what tier of entry students study are made throughout the course of Key Stage 4. Our intention with the Key Stage 4 curriculum is to build upon the core mathematical skills students have developed in Key Stage 3 and continue to secure this understanding and explore in greater depth more complex ideas, whilst still embedding problem solving and real-life applications. Our curriculum is differentiated for different abilities to allow fluency in fundamental skills and exploration of more advanced skills.

Year 9 1 Year 9 2

Year 9 3

Year 10 1

Year 10 2

Year 11 1

Year 11 2 

Note – students are setted in all year groups so the curriculum will be differentiated based on the ability of the class.

Assessment

At Key Stage 4 students undergo two mock examinations, one at the end of the Spring term in year 10 and in year 11 at the end of the Autumn term. These will be past exam papers and the truest likeness to the exams the students will undergo in the summer of year 11. In order to prepare students to answer these, there will be mid-term assessments as outlined above. In addition students will continually be assessed using practise questions throughout each topic and various self and peer assessments will be used to help students to understand how to attain the highest possible number of marks in their answers.

Homework

Students will be set work appropriately depending on the part of the course that is being taught. Homework is predominantly either an online task or a written task consisting of a set of practice exam questions based on the topic a student is studying, however other tasks could include a problem solving task or a revision based activity. They should have at least four pieces of homework a half term of varying length. If they are revising for a mid-term test they should spend at least 3-4 hours doing this, therefore revising for a mock should take substantially longer.

 

 

Key Stage 5

Currently students follow the Edexcel Mathematics A level. Classes are taught three modules taught by two members of staff. Across year 12 and year 13, students will study Pure, Statistics and Mechanics modules. The summative assessment at the end of year 13 will result in three papers, two Pure maths papers and one Mechanics and Statistics paper. Students also have the opportunity to study Further Maths at A level, where students can extend their skills and explore highly complex problems, derive proofs and learn advanced mathematical techniques to lay the groundwork for future mathematical studies post-18. Our A level curriculum is designed so that students refine and build upon the skills they have learnt in Key Stage 4 with regular opportunities to model new concepts in real-life applications, with the view of preparing the students for life beyond sixth form.

Assessment and homework

Students are expected to complete various tasks on a weekly basis and it is recommended for every hour of scheduled lesson time, students complete one hour of additional independent study. This can range from completing a set assignment, to doing additional work on an exercise from our course textbook or reviewing a topic using the mixed exercise. Students will continually be assessed via marked homework’s for each unit and sit half-termly mid-term assessments which they will need to spend at least 3-4 hours revising for in advance. Students will sit a mock exam in the summer term of Year 12 and the spring term of Year 13.

 

 

Independent study

7 to 11 books

12 to 13 books

 

 

photo - Martha

Extra-Curricular Activities

There is a wide range of extra-curricular activities we offer in the maths department.  Our more able students get the chance to compete in the UKMT Mathematics Challenge run by Leeds University and additionally we enter a team in the Senior Team Challenge. We also run a variety of revision, drop – in and intervention sessions during the school day.

Numeracy Handbook

pi 2The numeracy handbook is designed to give guidance to staff, parents and students. It covers the methods used by the Maths department and throughout the school. It is hoped that by having a consistent approach to these fundamental skills it will be easier for students to transfer these skills across the curriculum, and make greater progress.

Numeracy Handbook