Maths Teaching Staff
- Ms K Price: Curriculum Leader
- Mrs N Lansley: Second in Maths
- Mr C Beeton
- Miss U Spencer
- Mr K Arnold
- Mr S Lissenden – Intervention Tutor
Why Maths is Important
Maths is a key subject in the curriculum for all students. Content learnt in maths enables students to gain important life skills, which help them in everyday life. A good standard in maths is needed in all careers and, along with English is one of the basic qualifications employers look for when recruiting. If students do not achieve a good grade in maths at the end of Year 11 they will have to continue with the subject in sixth form and at college.
The Oak Academy Maths Department follows a five-year plan teaching plan, starting in Year 7. Continually building on skills needed to be successful with in the subject. Much time is spent on mastering, strengthening and then extending students mathematical knowledge and understanding.
Students will learn how to solve problems and use and apply the mathematics learnt. With the changing GCSE, this is a key aspect of maths learning at Oak. Time is built into our SOW of work to allow students the opportunity to extend their learning and use maths in real life situations.
Teaching and Learning in Maths
Maths teachers use a variety of activities and methods in lessons to engage students and promote deeper thinking. These include, tarsia’s, card sorts and treasure hunts, alongside the embedded use of textbooks. We also place an emphasis on numeracy skills, continually revisiting the basics of the four operations and multiplication tables, the latter through the use of TT Rockstars.
Every week begins with a ‘First Five’ this activity promotes recall of previous topics, intervention and use of feedback, retrieval practice is embedded in all lessons. We use SPARX Maths for all home learning focusing on key skills, to encourage independent thinking and learning.
Topics are taught in module format, with assessments and self-assessing taking place at the end of each module, to allow students to reflect and build on their learning. More formal assessments occur at the end of each year.
Curriculum Vision Maths
Key Stage 3
In Years 7, 8 and 9 we teach many different topics. Some are recapping and extending learning in KS2, but the majority are new concepts, that form the key skills of the GCSE course. We also spend time, working on functional skills and real life problems. This enables students to use and apply the work taught in lessons. We follow the core curriculum, and use support and depth lessons and resources when appropriate.
Key Stage 4
Students will complete three exam papers at the end of Year 11. A non-calculator and two calculator papers. All papers last 1 hour 30 minutes and the content of the course can occur in any of the papers. Maths papers are split into two tiers Foundation: Grades 1-5 and Higher: Grades 4-9. Both papers contain the same questions at grades 4-5, these are the key crossover topics.
Students continue to develop the skills and concepts learnt in KS3 and focus further on the using and applying of the topics taught. Problem solving is now a key part of the higher paper, students get the opportunity to solve deeper learning questions that cover more than one concept.
The course is broken down in to five sections:
- Number
- Algebra
- Ratio, proportion and rates of change
- Geometry and measures
- Probability and Statistics
These sections are then broken down into smaller modules, 19 for Higher and 20 for Foundation. All modules are assessed and students complete self-assessments.
GCSE Specifications
The link to the GCSE specifications for Maths can be found below:
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/subjects/mathematics.html
