Mathematics
at Bishop Perowne Church of England College
Intent
At Bishop Perowne we believe that all students have the ability to be inspired and learn mathematics, and to nurture a lifelong skill in both practical and educational surroundings.
All students will develop Mathematic fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills throughout their study.
Our spiral curriculum design ensure students have opportunities to revisit our key topics of mathematics; Number, Algebra, ratio, proportion and rates of change, geometry and measure, probability and statistics often, enabling them to draw upon their prior learning and apply to problems that go more in-depth than their surface understanding.
Key Stages 3 & 4
Year 7
Our aim in year 7 is to consolidate and bridge the gap of their numerical and mathematical capability from key stage 2 to key stage 3, and to extend their understanding of the number system and place value to include decimals, fractions, powers and roots (development of procedural fluency).
We take year 7 students on a deep dive into the fundamentals of mathematics to ensure they develop a long term, secure and adaptable understanding of the subject.
Students are not just looking at the HOW but the WHY. Every student is expected to master the understanding of how Maths works. Their lesson content moves between concrete and abstract scenarios in all areas to align with their further mathematical study.
Our liaison with primary schools enable us to endeavour to continually improve our teaching techniques and adapt our content where appropriate.
An example of key topics that students will study in year 7 are: Place value, concepts of prime numbers, factors and multiples, exploring shapes, units and their applications.
Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged through rich and real-life applications of each Maths topic before accelerating onto new content to ensure a wider experience of Maths and the potential careers available. All areas of Maths studied from year 6 and Year 7 will be used throughout your students’ academic life at Bishop Perowne.
When students have not yet reached the full fundamental understanding on the key concepts of the KS3 Mastery curriculum, they are regularly able to revisit key topics through Do now tasks and flashbacks to aid the retrieval of their prior knowledge and given the opportunity to strengthen their understanding. To aid in their ability to apply and challenge their understanding before moving onto more mathematics/problem solving.
Year 8
Once students have secured the key concepts using the mastery SOW in year 7 they can then make the progression onto new content of the KS3 syllabus in year 8. This may be differentiated if students need more time to grasp the key concepts by focusing on their prior skills required before starting the new skill.
‘Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration through new content’.
The majority of topics in year 8 will be an extension of the work met in year 7 with new topics being introduced once they have learnt the fundamental building blocks of mathematics and to continue to deepen their understanding of all topics. For example students will build on their percentage skills to be able to calculate percentage changes including original values and their everyday life uses e.g. sale prices and interest. Students will also start to look into topics such as standard form and areas and perimeters of circles in real life scenarios.
Year 9
Students will complete the most challenging aspects of the KS3 curriculum and consolidate their foundation knowledge of the key stage 3 syllabus throughout the year to be ready to accelerate onto the start of the GCSE key concepts that lend themselves well to bridge the gap between KS3 and KS4. Through challenge and rigor students will transfer their skills learnt from the KS3 content through opportunities of application of key strands using problem solving and reasoning (Conceptual understanding)
Students will begin to follow the Edexcel Mathematics Curriculum Grade 9-1 1MA1 at either foundation or higher level. This course is designed to create confidence in students’ knowledge and competencies by developing transferable skills for the future using everyday Mathematics. The course is 100% examination assessed, covering six key topic areas:
- Number
- Algebra
- Ratio, proportion and rates of change
- Geometry and measures
- Probability
- Statistics
Year 10
In year 10 students will continue to build on their prior Mathematical knowledge and continue to follow the Edexcel Mathematic Curriculum.
At this point the Mathematics curriculum breaks down into two courses: Foundation and Higher. Both courses are 100% examination assessed, covering the same six concepts from year 9 but in greater depth.
An example on how we intelligently sequence our SOW to create depth and understanding in KS4. In year 10, students are able to calculate unknown angles and side using Trigonometry Ratios. In year 11, students are able to calculate unknown sides and angles using Cosine and Sine Rule furthering their development of trigonometry.
Year 11
In Year 11 the content studied in Year 9 and 10 is studied at greater depth.
The course is 100% examination assessed, covering six key topic areas: Number, Algebra, Ratio, Proportion and Rates of Change, Geometry, and Measures.
During Year 11, all students will take part in a series of PPEs, Walking Talking Mocks (WTM), and immersion days to better prepare students for their GCSE in summer term.
Assessment & Lessons
The assessments will cover the following content headings:
- Number
- Algebra
- Ratio, proportion and rates of change
- Geometry and measures
- Probability
- Statistics
Edexcel Mathematics GCSE
At the end of Key Stage 4, all students at Bishop Perowne will sit Edexcel Mathematics GCSE. It consists of two tiers: Foundation or Higher, each student will be entered to the tier most appropriate to them. The exam consists of 3 papers. Paper 1 is a non-calculator assessment and a calculator is allowed for Paper 2 and Paper 3. Each paper is 1 hour and 30 minutes long and has 80 allocated marks.
Throughout the year all students will complete smaller assessments based on their current topic of study. These are between 40 and 60 minutes in length which take place in the classroom and aim to give a good indication of how all students are performing during the year. All these topics will be collected at the end of each term in a bigger end of term assessment with one final cumulative assessment at the end of the year in the summer term.
Weightings
| Foundation | Higher |
Number | 22-28% | 12-18% |
Algebra | 17-23% | 27-33% |
Ratio, proportion and rates of change | 22-28% | 17-23% |
Geometry and Measure | 12-18% | 17-23% |
Probability and Statistics | 12-18% | 12-18% |
Enrichment & Co-curricular
Across the year there are several opportunities for students to get involved with the Maths department. Examples are:
Pi Day – a new opportunity at looking at Pi in-depth and discovering where it came from. With a few fun pi themed surprises around the school
Number Day – It is Maths but not as you know it. Students can participate in fun curriculum-based activities that take inspiration parts of the history of Maths around the school.
The Cosy Gaming Club – This Club incorporates students’ love for games and logical thinking. Students have the opportunity to compete in games of Chess, Checkers, 9 Men’s Morris and Dungeons and Dragons to develop their lateral thinking and their approach to problem solving based scenarios, most commonly found in the school curriculum in maths.
Year 11 Hub – A revision hub for our cohort of year 11’s in preparation of their exams.
