Maths

At St Joseph’s we intent to:

• Ensure our children have access to a high quality maths curriculum that is both challenging and enjoyable.
• Provide our children with a variety of mathematical opportunities, which will enable them to make the connections in learning needed to enjoy greater depth in learning.
• Ensure children are confident mathematicians who are not afraid to take risks.

Fully develop independent learners with inquisitive minds who have secure mathematical foundations and an interest in self-improvement.

The National Curriculum Programme of Study for mathematics and the White Rose Scheme of Work is used to structure the mathematics curriculum.

Whilst the National Curriculum forms the foundation of our curriculum, we make sure that children learn additional skills, knowledge and understanding and enhance our curriculum as and when necessary.  Mathematics is taught as an exclusive subject in order to promote fluency but children are also provided with real life problems so that they are made aware of the importance of mathematics in everyday life.

Opportunities are provided across all curricular areas for the development and application of Mathematic skills to help all  The promotion of mathematics is essential to the successful acquisition of knowledge across the curriculum.  The promotion of opportunities to use and apply mathematical knowledge throughout school is planned in a variety of subjects set in real life contexts.

Each year group is taught in sets of ability to enable more support for those that need it and the opportunity to deepen understanding for those that can manage.

There is at least one arithmetic lesson each week for both Y5 and Y6 to ensure the pupils have a strong foundation of arithmetic

Pupils are set in Y5 according to Y4 transfer and KS1 data. They then complete a baseline test and moved accordingly. Both Y5 and Y6 complete short assessments at the end of a topic and teacher records are kept. These are used to ensure pupils are identified quickly if they need intervention and support.

More lengthy termly tests are completed which, along with teacher assessment, form the data for school data drops completed in December, April and July.

• Children will make at least good progress in Mathematics from their last point of statutory assessment or from their starting point in Y5.
• Children will use their Mathematics knowledge and skills, in all curriculum areas, to enable them to know more, remember more and understand more.
• Children will recognise the importance of Mathematics as a facilitating subject to enable them to access other areas of learning and operate successfully is everyday life both now and in the future.
• Children will have a confident attitude towards mathematics. They will use arithmetic and timetables fluently and make connections in order to solve real life problems. They will recognise that Mathematics is essential for everyday life. Children will use their Mathematics skills as a key tool in helping them to learn, and as a result, know more, remember more and understand more.

In Key Stage 3 our students study the National Curriculum for Maths and we aim to:

• develop mathematical competency with skills and understanding across key concepts
• develop fluent mathematicians who are confident and able to apply their mathematical knowledge to a variety of problems
• develop students’ ability to reason about mathematical concepts and make connections within the classroom, across the school curriculum and the wider world
• develop independent problem solvers who take risks in their learning and challenge themselves
• foster an enjoyment of mathematics and create confident critical thinkers

The KS3 curriculum begins with algebraic thinking in order to introduce the students to exciting new content. It encourages the use of calculators and enables them to begin to think like mathematicians. Students build on their skills of problem solving by generalising, visualising and sequence recognition. Algebra is then interleaved throughout as we move onto place value, proportion and FDP equivalence which are covered in order to consolidate and extend the foundations from KS2. Throughout the spring term the curriculum focuses on solving complex problems and deepening mathematical thinking. This is followed by a focus on directed number and further developing fluency with fractions in response to the demands of the KS4 curriculum. The summer term covers geometric reasoning which draws out their ability to articulate their mathematical thinking whilst applying their number skills. Year 8 begins with proportional reasoning in order to prepare the pupils for the increased focus in the KS4 curriculum. The students are introduced to graphical representation which links to the work on proportion and builds on the algebraic work covered in Year 7. The spring term focuses on algebraic techniques, extending the work begun in Year 7 and introducing new terminology and ideas. The curriculum then develops fluency and reasoning with fractions and percentages before moving on to standard form. This topic develops the understanding of place value covered in Year 7. In the summer term the knowledge of geometry is developed to include rules and formulae for more complex shapes. The year ends with a data topic in which the students develop their understanding of dispersion and location.We are particularly conscious of the role that vocabulary plays in unlocking the whole curriculum.  Within KS3 mathematics our teachers explicitly teach the meaning of subject specific vocabulary. Assessments are designed to support students in achieving fluency.  This means that in lessons students are quizzed on prior knowledge in order to embed this knowledge in their long term memory.  This frees up their working memory to attend to current learning

As individuals and as a department, we are passionate about mathematics and in sharing this passion we hope to shape the mathematicians of the future. In doing so, we help students to see the importance of mathematics and its applications in life, as well as the enjoyment that mathematics can bring. By the end of Year 8 at St Joseph’s RC Middle school, pupils should be confident, resilient and competent mathematicians, equipped with the skills needed for their future mathematical journey.