MATHS
» The Maths Team
» Curriculum Intent
» Numeracy Across the Curriculum
The Maths Team
Curriculum Leader
Mrs A Lutchi - alutchi@theacademy.me
Teachers of Maths
- Mr O Bernard
- Miss O Burgess
- Mr P Daley
- Miss E Esturiene
- Mrs M Hewitt
- Mr K Laundry
- Mr M Morris
- Mrs C Walters
- Mrs S White Vassell
- Miss N Wignall
Curriculum intent
COGNITION CURRICULUM
The Cognition Curriculum teaches pupils in Maths to become effective learners by developing the key skills of Reciprocity, Resilience, Resourcefulness, Reflectiveness and Recall.
Our aim is to ensure that each student, whatever their ability, should reach their full potential and aim to develop all the skills that make up our AVA curriculum.
We teach these skills explicitly because they help our pupils to become faster, better and more confident learners. By investing in the development of these learning skills at early stages in the curriculum our pupils benefit as they are able to use their learning skills throughout their education and life. The investment pays dividends over time both at later stages in the curriculum and beyond as they become lifelong learners.
Reciprocation – In Maths students are set tasks to be completed in pairs or groups including Maths discovering tasks. This requires group participation at all stages of the process. Students regularly participate in paired and group discussions and peer assess each other’s work.
Resilience – In Maths resilience is aught through assessment cycle and self-assessment.
Students complete a SIR at the end of each unit test and use PLCs through their unit of work to reflect where they are currently and where they aim to be. Following every assessment students reflect on their work to develop it following the SIR marking.
Resourcefulness – In Maths we are using a range of resources to make Maths fun and understandable: differentiated worksheets, use of laptops for certain topics, use of various tools on the whiteboard, text books with differentiated work and other resources to help students understand the maths concepts.
Reflectiveness – Students use their PLCs, written and verbal feedback and their SIR marking to review and develop their learning and build on it.
Recall --We are using starters at the beginning of each lesson to give the students the opportunity to recall information from previous lessons. The use of modeling “I do, We do, You do” implemented in the Maths department gives the students the opportunity to remember previous knowledge and link it to the current lesson.
We have implemented retrieval practice explicitly into some of our lessons with starter activities. We have developed our teaching of revision skills in years 10 and 11 with revision techniques explicitly taught, revision timetables and revision resources provided and taught.
We are currently following a robust scheme of work, Key Stage 3 taking two years and Key Stage 4 for the final three years of the curriculum.
CULTURE CURRICULUM
The Culture Curriculum is highlighted at several points in the Mid-Term Plans.
Character - Topics are enriched by sharing with students the real-world application of the Maths concepts they are about to learn. This can be seen in the lessons when students are challenged to link various topics to real life situations such as money problems, measuring, building activities. This maybe by a ‘hook in’ at the start of lessons or a real-life application of a concept through the lesson.
Enrichment - We are taking part in UKMT- Junior Maths Challenge and Intermediate Maths challenge every year.
We have also been participating in Maths World day competitions across phase in Primary and Secondary School.
We offer a variety of Maths Clubs and as part of the extended school’s programme.
Chess Club, “Maths Discovering”, Maths Board games and Mymaths clubs are strengths in the delivery of the Culture Curriculum.
Numeracy Strategic plan and Numeracy activities across school-form time.
Peer assessments and self-assessments building character education.
Visits - Taking students on Maths trips with an aim and share good practice throughout the maths department.
CORE CURRICULUM
In Maths topics are being taught as a spiral curriculum throughout KS3 and KS4.
KS3: The Y7’s and the Y8’s are following a robust SOW covering NUMBER, SHAPE, ALGEBRA and DATA differentiated into Depth/Core/Support to support the top, medium and lower sets. The SOW is detailed week by week and the content is covered weekly. End of each Unit test completed, and SIR completed by the students.
KS4: GCSE Mathematics, three year Scheme of Work, detailed week by week and the End of Units tests completed regularly. Personalised Learning Checks completed by all Year 11 classes after the Mocks.
Earlier lessons are revisited throughout all year groups as they link with more challenging topics. This helps to develop confidence in Maths and also to ensure the basics are covered. Interleaving lessons are revisited throughout the Y10 and Y11 classes to regularly revisit topics covered earlier in the course.
Centralised Homework for all classes Y7- Y11, set up weekly and monitored by the teachers.
Collaborative approach to lesson planning and resourcing.
Differentiated tasks for the different level of students by using the AVA taxonomy of Learning.
Wide knowledge and experience of specifications and exam marking across the team.
Ensure students are given a routine that outlines the different expectations that they will need to follow during lessons.
In order to enhance an ambitious curriculum, In Maths, there is the option of doing either the foundation or higher tier so the appropriate level of challenge can be chosen for each student.
We assess the whole Y10 group using exam papers to give us an accurate picture of the correct sets ability in Y11. Mock exam are always planned in the hall and the students are informed in advance to start revising and aim for higher sets.
Careers in the Curriculum
Lessons are occasionally linked to careers in an explicit way, where the transferable skills developed are connected with areas of employment such as accountancy, science, geography, economics, leadership and management.
More frequently, lessons are linked to careers in a more implicit way; students work towards becoming better citizens, embracing the British Values.
Numeracy Across the curriculum
Why numeracy is important
"Good numeracy is the best protection against unemployment, low wages and poor health." Andreas Schleicher, OECD
Numeracy skills are used by us all every day in our working lives and our home activities. These are skills we use when we shop; plan dream holidays; make decisions about our finances; or, even redecorate our homes. Numeracy is important at every stage of our lives: learning to count as a toddler; becoming a mathematics student at school; deciding on jobs and homes; helping our children learn; understanding health choices; understanding pensions. Without good numeracy skills these decisions become harder. For us to make the best choices, we need to be numerate.
Numeracy at AVA
We are committed to raising standards of numeracy for all at AVA. The development of numeracy skills is central to a young person’s life chances. Below are a few of the ways we encourage our students to engage with numeracy and understand its real value:
- KS3 & KS4 students complete differentiated numeracy activities every week during form time to practise these foundational skills;
- Y11 students complete numeracy activities that are suited to their target grades during form time on a weekly basis;
- Real life application of numeracy skills are provided in the maths classrooms so students understand the value of their learning there;
- Numeracy skills are rewarded throughout the phases with internal weekly problem-solving competitions;
- Extra-curricular activities including the Junior Maths Challenge and Mathletics provide students with the opportunity to compete nationally and internationally using their numeracy skills.
Numeracy across the curriculum
Numeracy skills are not just important in mathematics. They are an integral part of every subject. In Art and Design, many patterns and designs are based on geometric shapes and ideas of symmetry and proportion. In Business, Geography and History, numeracy is required to read and interpret key data in the form of charts and timelines. Scientific experiments require students to accurately measure, estimate outcomes, spot patterns and collect results into tables and graphs. Teachers at AVA understand the importance of numeracy and promote these skills in their lessons.
Useful Links
PIXL Maths APP
Onmaths.com
Maths Genie
Corbett Maths
Sam Learning
Parentpay (links to revision textbooks)