KS3 Subject Intent
At KS3, we teach a Mastery curriculum. This has been implemented in Years 7 & 8 and will roll out to subsequent year groups over the next 3 years. The curriculum at KS3 is designed to develop fluency, reasoning and problem-solving and these components are embedded throughout our Schemes of Learning. In each of the major topic areas (Number, Measurement, Geometry & Measures, Probability, Statistics) the curriculum has been broken down into key strands. It aims to consolidate prior learning from KS2 and builds upon this so that students master key mathematical content and receive the support and challenge they specifically need. It also aims to address misconceptions.
There is a high emphasis on numeracy, mathematical language, problem-solving and reasoning. We want students to be confident, resilient mathematicians who see the beauty and relevance of mathematics in the real world. It is our intention that mathematical methods are taught consistently across the department so that a change of teacher in the future does not disadvantage our students… This way, students that require greater support in mastering the fundamentals are given opportunities to do so, whilst our more able mathematicians are able to progress through the skills and are not held back. It is our intention that students are given regular opportunities to improve their retention of key topics and revisit areas of weakness so that they can overcome them.
We achieve this through regular and varied assessment. We recognise that students in maths learn at different rates and will have areas of development despite being taught the knowledge and skills.
Year 9 is being taught following our previous curriculum which centred around teaching students in blocks around 5 key areas (Number, Algebra, Shape, Ratio & Data handling) in Years 7 & 8. In Year 9 the KS3 curriculum moves away from the 5 broad areas and topics are mixed. Assessment also changes with a focus on retrieving prior knowledge as well as current to improve retention and retrieval.
KS4 Subject Intent
Once students enter KS4, our intention is that they consolidate and build upon their knowledge and skills from KS3. Our intent in terms of teaching, learning and assessment is guided by the same principles as KS3. It is our intention that students are not restricted in terms of their progress, so topics that are universal to both the Foundation and Higher tiers are taught towards the end of Year 10 so that decisions regarding tier of entry can be made as late as possible.
This is because we believe that progress is not linear, and some students develop mathematical confidence and fluency later in their academic lives. At the end of Year 10 we aim to have taught the vast majority of the content. This allows us to revisit all content in revision lessons in Year 11. This is because we believe that in mathematics, practice and revisiting topics is essential for addressing weaknesses, improving retention and building competence which ultimately improves the level of success that our students achieve. Our intention is that all students irrespective of ability leave school with the mathematical knowledge and skills that will benefit them in their future lives.
