Department:Maths
Head of Department: Mr A Gorman
If you wish to learn more about the curriculum, please contact the Head of Department by email: a.gorman@oaklandscatholicschool.org
Curriculum Implementation.
We believe that effective professional relationships underpin good teaching and learning; maths is a core subject and we see our students very frequently, having an effective working relationship between student and teacher is paramount.
Whilst Maths is a knowledge rich subject, this can only be exploited with the application of skill. We try and ensure that what students need to know and understand sticks by having a spiral curriculum. The five main areas of number, algebra, ratio, geometry and data are taught in a cycle. Each time students revisit an area, they are exposed to more complex content, building on what they have already learnt. We ensure the level of challenge is high enough for the most able, with scaffold and support available for students who need it.
Although topics are revisited with increasing levels of complexity every Maths lesson is different. Despite there being common threads; a pattern of what a “typical lesson” may look like at the point of delivery is varied. Staff have the freedom to use many teaching methods to cater for all the students in each class.
Retrieval and practice are one of these common threads. At the beginning of each maths lesson, students can expect to be warmly greeted by their teacher and begin with some type of retrieval activity. Often, we will then deliver our content for the lesson, asking questions, inviting discussion and showing how work can be set out. Before students begin to practice skills or discover information by themselves.
In Year 7 students are taught for the first year in their tutor groups. The tutor group is an important aspect of our day to day lives within the school, becoming a spiritual and academically focused family. Content is tiered by ability to ensure challenge and support for all students, and establishes a core foundation on which to build future work. Lessons and methods have been planned collaboratively across the department, so students have a consistent approach to the techniques taught from all teachers as they move into streamed sets in later years.
In other year groups, classes are broadly mixed ability. Some of these classes are smaller to allow students more support and guidance in lessons, these classes follow a pathway that will allow them to complete the Foundation tier GCSE. Other groups follow a curriculum that will allow them to complete the Higher tier GCSE. We allow movement between groups regularly based on student need and performance in assessments. These classes are named after famous mathematicians; Hawking, Johnson, Lovelace, Nightingale and Turing.
Our Sixth Form classes are smaller than national average class size, which allows for greater teacher support for each pupil. Students work through A-Level Maths and Further Maths with the same teachers that would have taught them through Years 7 to 11, this continuation allows for a quick start in Year 12 as relationships are already forged and teachers know the strengths of their students. Several families have commented on the peace of mind offered by their children having the same teachers for A-Level as they did GCSE, and cite it as a reason for staying on in the Sixth Form.
The Maths department like to involve parents carers and guardians in the learning of their child. Homework is set regularly to not only imbed content taught in class, but also involve those at home with their child’s mathematical journey. By showing an interest in the work completed by their child, parents and guardians can help inspire a love of learning and pride that we as teachers could not possibly achieve. For those that frequently bemoan their own mathematical education, or say they are not
good at maths or cannot understand what their child is doing for homework, then having your child explain their work to you can give their confidence and appreciation for maths a huge boost. We regularly contact home to praise students who have shown fantastic effort with their work and through Parents Evenings and reports, are able to update parents and guardians on their child’s attainment and progress.
Key Stage 3
Through Years 7 and 9, we take the core principles established in primary school and build the foundations on which to teach the GCSE syllabus. We aim to establish a firm foundation throughout KS3 as well as an understanding of algebraic fundamentals, in tandem with a coherent understanding of proportional reasoning, geometry and number skills before beginning the GCSE course.
We have also worked with the Solent Maths Hub in recent years to create a mastery curriculum and lessons that allow for repeated practice of skills. This continues to be implemented and allows us to deliver lessons that are at the forefront of teaching research and allows our students to make progress faster.
Key Stage 4
Our current Year 11s follow the OCR scheme of learning and will be sitting with this exam board in the Summer 2025 exams. Full details of the OCR GCSE specifications can be found here
Our current Year 10s have now moved to the Pearson Edexcel scheme of learning and will be sitting with this exam board in the Summer 2026 exams. Full details on the Edexcel GCSE specification can be found here.
Key Stage 5
We offer two different A-Levels at our Sixth Form. These are Maths and Further Maths. We use Edexcel for this course and details of these specifications can be found here.
Both are highly desirable A-Levels with universities and many higher education courses citing A-Level Maths as an entry requirement.
In Maths, students can expect to learn about proof, functions, coordinate geometry, sequences, trigonometry, exponentials and logarithms, differentiation, integration, vectors, statistics and mechanics.
In Further Maths, students will learn in greater detail and focus areas from the Maths course as well as some different content areas. Firstly, there are Further Core 1 and 2, which covers proof, complex numbers, matrices, further algebra and functions, further calculus, further vectors, polar coordinates, hyperbolic functions and differential equations. Secondly, students will cover Decision 1 and 2, which includes algorithms and graph theory, critical path analysis, linear programming, transportation and allocation problems, flows in networks, dynamic programming, game theory, recurrence relations and decision analysis.
Students have access to online textbooks from Kerboodle and ActiveLearn, so they can complete various problems at home or in school. Teachers frequently make use of training offered by Edexcel, AMSP and Integral to ensure they are up to date on course content, teaching methods and how to deliver exam success to allow students to go to their university, or begin their career, of choice.
Our high achieving students are given many opportunities to fulfil and exceed their age-related expectations. We regularly take part in the UK Maths Trust events, including their challenges for the various age ranges as well as team competitions. As well as completing a GCSE in Mathematics, our highest achieving students will also be able to take the AQA Level 2 Further Mathematics course, or the OCR Free Standing Maths Qualification in Additional Maths. These are robust and highly challenging courses, that as well as supporting the transition from GCSE to A-Level Maths are also desirable qualifications for when applying to universities. The problem solving and reasoning skills involved in these qualifications and challenges, offer students a way of showing their flair and passion for maths in equal measure.
Catholic Social Teaching
How we address values and virtues through the Mathematics Curriculum
1.Human Dignity : In Year 9, when dealing with repeated percentage change, we weigh up whether it is more financially prudent for the NHS to keep a patient on life support or not, allowing for dialogue on what constitutes a natural death and the life and dignity of a person. We also ….click to continue
2.Peace: As a concept is taught through an understanding of tolerance, both of other people’s views and of people outside our students sphere of influence. As a teaching strategy in Maths, we are ….click to continue
3.The common good: A central theme to many of our lessons around the four operations (Year 7), decimals and percentages (Year 8) and calculator skills (Year9) relate around financial literacy. We aim to ….click to continue
4.The Option for the Poor and Vulnerable: Mathematics helps us to understand the world and what is happening in it. We could not work out fair wages or develop accurate and impartial measurements of poverty, literacy and mortality without mathematics. At Key Stage 3, …..click to continue
5.Dignity of Work: “I attribute my success to this: I never gave nor took any excuse.” – Florence Nightingale, nurse and statistical pioneer. We aim to ensure students experience dignity of work both through what we teach, and how we teach it. We want students to ….click to continue
6. Solidarity: In 1977, Mathematician Ubiratan D’Ambrosio introduced the concept of Ethnomathematics. This is the study and celebration of mathematical practices from differing countries and cultures from both historical and modern outlooks. This is something that has become part of many lessons ….click to continue
7. Care for God’s Creation: “Mathematics in the language with which God has written the universe” – Galileo Galilei. During Years 7 and 9, we delve into Statistics and how we collect and represent data. Students gather data on rising sea levels, consumption of single use plastic and coral reef coverage. ….click to continue
The Maths department believes that our subject should be accessible for all students, and all should be given opportunities to succeed, regardless of background. The key to this is quality first teaching. We ensure our language is clear, unambiguous and accessible; key words, meanings and symbols are highlighted, explained and written up, or available in some other way. Wording of questions are planned carefully, avoiding complex vocabulary and sentence structures; questions are prepared in different styles and levels for different students − careful preparation ensures all students have opportunities to answer open-ended questions; lesson objectives are clear and supported with task lists. Students are encouraged to talk about how they achieved something. We believe that dialogue is the key to successful assessment for learning. Teachers communicate in ways students are comfortable with. We ensure that whatever the learning need, we are supporting our students.
Disadvantaged students, where needed, will be given a scientific calculator and maths equipment set to help them with their studies. Furthermore, upon embarking on their GCSE course, these students will be given additional revision materials and support in using them to achieve exam success. There are also lessons timetabled, staffed by maths specialist teachers, to support students that need additional maths intervention. The department works closely with the SENCO to discuss these intervention sessions, ensuring the correct students are being given additional support, they are practicing the skills they need as individuals to progress, and staff have the resources to make these sessions successful. Through working closely with the SEN department and implementing the learning passports, where students have them, we wish for our pupils to have the unique and differentiated learning experience that they deserve.
Assessment and Feedback
Assessment and feedback at Oaklands is both high and low stake. We often assess understanding using mini whiteboards, observing, questioning, making use of Plickers software, playing games such as Taboo or using Tarsia puzzles and a whole host of engaging strategies. This allows teachers to quickly ascertain students understanding and see if students are holding onto misconceptions that need addressing or if the student requires pushing further onto more complex work. We can therefore identify problems in the here and now much more effectively and efficiently. Class based assessment and feedback ensures that work is set based on their individual needs and support and guidance put in place to help students make progress.
Formal assessments are extensively used to monitor the progress of students and ensure that they are being pushed academically and help us to identify areas that require improvement. Assessment also provides a measure to check on the appropriateness and sequencing of the curriculum. Students will be given revision lists for assessments and receive support in how to prepare for these. The assessments follow the scheme of work and meet the statutory guidance set out in National curriculum in England: mathematics programmes of study
Similar to GCSE we tier our assessments after the first term of Year 7 in Key Stage 3. We do this so students can feel suitably challenged yet still experience exam success. By completing these assessments, practising GCSE questions, developing problem solving skills and working on their written methods, then students can improve on their weakest areas and become better mathematicians. We aim to develop a culture where ‘getting it wrong’ is often the first set to ‘getting it right’
Extra Curricular and Cultural Capital
Cultural capital, for mathematics, is the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours and skills that a young person can use to demonstrate their cultural awareness. A secure knowledge and competence with numbers and numerical skills is vital to be successful in society, such as understanding the percentages used for taxes, NI contributions, pension contributions and student loan repayments. This knowledge and competence allow for a social mobility and success that can empower students when they leave school.
When learning something for the first time, mathematics can be challenging for students, but it is this difficulty which allows them to progress. By overcoming this adversity, we will set up our students with a resilience and toughness that will allow them to overcome barriers later in life.
Extra Curricular activities in school can include after school or lunchtime support with homework or lesson content. Year 11 and 13 students can have regular revision sessions to support them with mock papers and exams. Through the recent lockdown, we have developed our Extra Curricular resources that we intend to continue using moving forward. Students have enjoyed working through and using several websites, such as NRICH, DrFrostMaths and Brilliant.org. Furthermore, students have liked subscribing to new YouTube channels and Podcasts including StandupMaths, TEDed Riddles, Numberphile and ViHart.
Development of Literacy through Maths
Literacy in Mathematics is essential for the development of students’ mathematical literacy; the subject has its own vocabulary set which often uses language only found in Maths. Literacy in Mathematics refers to the literate practices and strategies that enable students to:
- develop mathematical understanding
- communicate their mathematical reasoning
In addition to flying start within the curriculum our Literacy work focuses on three areas
Disciplinary literacy
- We focus on promoting the use of Mathematical language during lesson
- Developing literacy through discussion
- Refer to words alongside related words e.g. multiple, multiply, multiplication
- Development of sentence structures to assist with word related answers
- Development of analytical skills to assist with worded problems
- Working out coherent reasoning
Giving students the ability to read complex academic texts.
- Reading specific subject complex text as part of normal lessons for meaning (for example using various textbooks)
- Providing articles relevant to the area of study.
- Breaking down complex paragraphs or sentences so students can understand meaning (important in worded questions)
- Summarizing
- Chunk complex material into discrete parts with describable functions.
Targeted vocabulary instruction
- Staff being a role model – using correct mathematical terms and expect students to follow suit
- Display mathematical vocabulary around the classroom
- Introduce new terminology but also consolidate previously used terms wherever possible
- Highlight new vocabulary as it is used in context so students begin to understand when to use it
- Create topic displays that include key terminology
- Students use a pen/highlighter to highlight key terms in worded questions
- Break words in to sounds q-u-a-d-r-i-l-a-t-e-r-a-l
- Break words in to syllables cir-cum-fer-ence
- Use of the look, say, cover, write, check system when a word is first introduced
- Refer to words alongside related words e.g. multiple, multiply, multiplication
- Look for words in words e.g. hypotenuse to help students remember spellings
