Mathematics

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why.

Bernard Baruch

Intent

The Maths curriculum at Hartford Church of England High School has been designed to be broad and balanced with the intent to challenge and inspire all students, irrespective of their starting point.

The curriculum has been designed so that students acquire the necessary knowledge and so that they are given the opportunities to apply this knowledge to a range of problems that will ignite their curiosity and a love for maths.

Design Rationale

Our Mathematics curriculum is designed to 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 students 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 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.

A significant amount of time in Year 7 Autumn Term is devoted to developing key number concepts. This is to build fluency in students’ understanding, as number sense will affect their success in other areas of Mathematics. Students who are successful with number are much more confident mathematicians.

Our curriculum is designed to build upon previous knowledge. We continually interleave mathematical topics and concepts to enable students to problem solve and make connections between different parts of Mathematics. Our rationale is that students will be able to perform procedures accurately, interpret and communicate effectively and generate efficient strategies to solve complex problems.

Delivery

Our students follow a 3-year Key Stage 3 scheme of work (SOW) and a 2-year Key Stage 4 SOW. At Key Stage 3 all students follow the same SOW. At Key Stage 4 the curriculum is designed as a Foundation and Higher course, although it is designed so that students can move between tiers as necessary.

Each lesson begins with a retrieval activity based on topics that have already been taught. Our teachers are experts in modelling and we follow an ‘I do, we do, you do’ approach where appropriate. Lessons are chunked to allow maximum progress to be made per lesson, ensuring there is a balance between teacher-led activities and independent work. Purposeful practice and problem solving are key parts of lessons and we use a variety of questioning techniques to extract information and promote independent thinking. The quality of our feedback is high and robust; as a result, our students are confident and resilient.

Impact

The effectiveness of curriculum implementation is measured by student progress; progress means knowing, remembering and producing more and is the direct result of excellent learning.

To track progress, we follow a three-layered assessment structure.

High Stake Testing

High quality summative assessments (twice or three times a year) interleave knowledge and skills to support students in developing long-term memory. Stand-alone lessons ensure that students reflect and respond to teacher feedback.

Mid Stake Testing

Purposeful practice tasks completed independently in lessons at least once per half-term. These tasks are used to identify learning gaps prior to high stake testing. Students receive personalised written feedback to which they respond in lessons.

Low Stake Testing

To embed knowledge in long-term memory, generally lessons will start with a task based on prior knowledge. Student performance is then used effectively by teachers to identify misconceptions and plan accordingly to narrow knowledge gaps.

Hartford Church of England High School