Maths

Our Maths curriculum is proud to celebrate the Christian vision of the school where we focus lessons on a strong culture of love and respect.  We use mathematical challenges to help pupils to grow resilience and as a consequence take great pride from their achievements.

Spirituality by its definition will be found in many ways and forms. Below are just some typical examples of where it may be found in our Maths curriculum:

o Infinity and nothing.

o Pattern and order.

o Shape and regularity.

o Truth, certainty and likelihood.

o The universality of mathematics over time and space.

o The wonder of numbers, formulae and equations.

At St Egwin’s, our intent, for all pupils is to develop these skills within a mathematical learning community to bring out each individual’s inner mathematician and celebrate the habits of a mathematician – pattern spotting, experimenting, describing, guessing, conjecturing, and visualising. By developing students’ mathematical literacy, we aim to give all students the communication skills to become excellent problem solvers and tackle challenging questions with endeavour in a variety of contexts.

We believe that literacy in mathematics means developing a student’s structured speaking, vocabulary, writing, and reading to help them solve mathematical problems. Understanding links between different areas of mathematics and making connections with other subjects, whilst learning about mathematical concepts, our pupils develop their logical thinking skills which will aid problem solving in all areas of life.

We support The National Curriculum for mathematics, which aims to ensure that all pupils:

• Become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that pupils 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.
• Can 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 persevering in seeking solutions.

The St Egwin’s maths department adopts a secondary curriculum model where there are, in the main, specialist maths teachers in specialist classrooms. The maths curriculums each year have been designed as programmes of study which are sequenced, cumulative and facilitate a progression of skills, knowledge and understanding to ensure that every student makes progress and develops a life-long love of learning. As pupils move through the three years, they are challenged, supported, and prepared for the next stages of their learning journey.  We constantly endeavour to ensure that pupils love maths and are well supported throughout their time with us.

Our curriculum is equitable for all – pupils with identified needs are supported within timetabled lessons, enabling them to access the full curriculum, maximise their progress, whilst also developing the core skills of resilience and perseverance in a supportive nurturing environment focused on developing a culture of success.   Pupils leave with the essential knowledge and skills needed to continue their learning journey through high school and to enable them to take advantage of opportunities and experiences offered to them.

In order to realise our vision, our carefully sequenced curriculum will provide pupils with opportunities to:

• be exposed to a thorough and robust Maths curriculum
• develop sequential skills, building on prior learning and preparing for future challenges in Key Stage 4
• experience instruction and rehearsal of new information, interleaving and regular retrieval of skills
• work in a variety of ways for example in pairs, groups, individually and access technology using appropriate software
• be reflective in their practice and complete regular student voice questionnaires to ensure the intent suits the interests and needs of students
• gain enjoyment through a growing self-confidence in their ability.