Overview

At Harris Church of England Academy, the Mathematics department is committed to embedding a firm understanding of mathematical principles, whilst at the same time providing an opportunity for students to develop into well-rounded members of society. Students will leave Harris as competent, confident mathematicians, able to apply their problem solving skills and knowledge to their everyday lives. This aim will be achieved by the following means:

1. A curriculum has been developed that will enable students to make links with previous topics that have been taught. These links are further embedded by the production of reflections that aim to outline, not only the concept taught in a lesson, but also attempt to explain the principles taught.
2. The Scheme of Learning has been adapted to ensure that subjects are taught in an order conducive to students being able to adapt knowledge previously gained to new concepts. This ensures that students regularly review key concepts but also reinforces this knowledge by making links to topics that have been taught previously.
3. All lessons have consistent formative assessment within them. The use of whiteboards is key to uncovering misconceptions and allowing discussion.  Extended Learning tasks will be set every lesson, which will allow teachers to plan succeeding lessons as any misconceptions can be addressed very quickly.
4. Problem solving tasks are given each week by way of House Competitions, which will further develop the aforementioned skills.

Year by Year

On entry to Harris it has been noticed that many students are wary of mathematics and it has been hypothesised that this is a direct result of having a large amount of scaffolding and certain methods demonstrated that have not allowed students to reason out solutions for themselves. This has resulted in many students having a fear of mathematics, as they have not fully understood the concepts behind the “rules”. The aim of the first term at Harris for every new cohort will be to dispel these fears and encourage a growth in resilience.

We will do this by instilling a culture where all students are encouraged to work on concepts and justify their answers. All answers will be respected and incorrect answers welcomed as an opportunity for everyone, including staff, to learn and develop their own understanding.

By the end of year 7, students’ key misconceptions and shortcuts previously taught will have been discussed and an attempt made to inculcate a more robust understanding of mathematical ideas. It is acknowledged that some students will find this process difficult as progress will be seen to be slower than what they are used to, however, this method should allow a better appreciation of how the mathematics works and that, as long as a logical approach is adopted, every student will become more resilient in their approach to problem solving and become more likely to have confidence in approaching challenges.

By the end of year 8 students will be writing reflections, which will explain concepts or at least specify the area of mathematics that prevents them from making progress

Year 9 will mark the start of the GCSE course and will revisit many of the ideas previously taught and allow further extension to more challenging aspects of the mathematics course.

By the end of year 10 the Scheme of Learning will have been largely completed and all students will be confident that the tier of entry is correct for their aptitude.

Year 11 will be devoted to revision of the course and will involve practicing past papers and unit tests to highlight areas for improvement to maximise the student’s chances at GCSE.

At Harris Church of England Academy, we are mindful of our responsibility to our community in terms of providing a religious basis so that every student grows academically and spiritually. This is achieved by encouraging the students to develop their problem solving skills and by ensuring that deep thinking and questioning are encouraged by all students in every lesson. The skills of analysing data are taught from Year 7 to Year 11 to enable students to make sense of vast amounts of data available in the modern world around them. Mathematics was created to make more sense of the world around us and we enable each of our students to use maths as a tool to explore it more fully.

The values of humility and equality are constantly highlighted in lessons and every opportunity is taken to include these ideals in lessons.

In all years students work on various real life contexts, applying and exploring the skills required for solving various problems. We are aware that, although maths is an abstract concept, it plays a pivotal part in our day-to-day lives. We take every opportunity to highlight how maths is used in everyday life whether this is how interest rates impact on people’s lives, exploring the different types of taxation, comparing and contrasting proportional representation and the first past the post system or even how ratios are used in gaming.

Problem solving skills and teamwork are fundamental to mathematics, through creative thinking, discussion, explaining and presenting ideas. Students are always encouraged to develop their mathematical reasoning skills, communicating with others and explaining concepts to each other. Self and peer reviewing are very important to enable pupils to have an accurate grasp of where they are and how they need to improve. Working together in pairs or groups and supporting others is a key part of maths lessons.

The Maths department promotes discussion on the cultural and historical roots of mathematics, such Pythagoras’ theorem, the development and origins of the place value system and algebra from the East. We also actively encourage all pupils to break from traditional gender roles e.g. we actively encourage girls to pursue careers in the field of Engineering and actively challenge traditional gender roles.

SMSC in Maths

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning is being delivered in high quality lessons.

Spiritual Development in Maths

Developing deep thinking and questioning the way in which the world works promotes the spiritual growth of students. In maths lessons pupils are always encouraged to delve deeper into their understanding of mathematics and how it relates to the world around them. The skills of analysing data are taught from Year 7 to Year 11 to enable students to make sense of vast amounts of data available in the modern world around them. Sequences, patterns, measures and ultimately the entire study of mathematics was created to make more sense of the world around us and we enable each of our students to use maths as a tool to explore it more fully.

Examples of spiritual lessons in maths:

• Pupils considering the development of pattern in different cultures including work on tessellations such as using Rangoli designs or the use of religious symbols for symmetry
• Fibonacci pattern

Moral Development in Maths

The moral development of pupils is an important thread running through the entire mathematics syllabus. In all years students work on various projects that use maths in real life contexts, applying and exploring the skills required solving various problems.

Example of a moral lesson in maths:

• Pupils conducting an opinion survey on a moral issue

Social Development in Maths

Problem solving skills and teamwork are fundamental to mathematics, through creative thinking, discussion, explaining and presenting ideas. Students are always encouraged to develop their mathematical reasoning skills, communicating with others and explaining concepts to each other. Self and peer reviewing are very important to enable pupils to have an accurate grasp of where they are and how they need to improve. Working together in pairs or groups and supporting others is a key part of maths lessons.

Examples of social lessons in maths:

• Allowing discussion and debate on the use and abuse of statistics in the media
• Revision sessions
• Investigation when teaching questionnaires

Cultural Development in Maths

Mathematics is a universal language with a myriad of cultural inputs throughout the ages. We encourage the teaching of various approaches to mathematics including the Chinese lattice method for multiplication. We also explore the mathematics applied in different cultures such as Rangoli patterns, symmetry, tessellations and Islamic geometric patterns. The ability to use exchange rates for foreign travel are also important life skills students will learn.

Examples of cultural lessons in maths:

• Pupils investigating different number sequences and where they occur in the real world
• Allowing discussion on the cultural and historical roots of mathematics, such Pythagoras’ theorem
• Pupils discussing the use of mathematics in cultural symbols and patterns
• Mathematics is a universal language
• Use of the Chinese lattice method when teaching multiplication
• Pupils to have the ability to use exchange rates for foreign travel