MATHematicS - learning journey & curriculum

The maths department at Cleeve School transforms lives and creates opportunities by providing the best possible mathematical education for all students. We develop students’ numeracy to ensure they have the skills to navigate the world and support them to achieve the very best qualifications to allow them to progress to positive destinations.

We inspire futures by linking our maths lessons to the real world so that students understand how beneficial our subject can be. We also participate fully in the annual Cosmos festival, putting on workshops linking maths with art, the maths required to model (and survive!) a zombie apocalypse, and the maths of ancient civilisations.

Maths at Cleeve ensures that students will be able to increasingly talk like, write like and think like a Mathematician through the following:

A focus on oracy at KS3;
A mastery approach, including a movement from concrete to pictorial to abstract representations, which ensures deep understanding;
Interweaving topics so that students see the links between different areas of maths (e.g., including Pie Charts in a unit on fractions);
An ‘I Do, We Do, You Do’ structure which allows teachers to model their thinking so that students understand how to approach problems like a mathematician;
A focus on multi-step problems and reasoning at KS4

Specific communication of mathematical solutions lessons at KS5 and a KS5 flipped learning model which allows more time for students to focus on discussing complex problems and encourages them to be self-directed.

The KS3 curriculum maximises students’ chance of success by using White Rose – the most common scheme of learning used by our feeder primaries. This smooths the transition between primary and secondary school to minimise the well-documented attainment dip that students nationally experience in KS3. KS3 students can go beyond the curriculum by participating in the UKMT Maths Challenge and Cosmos festival maths events. Our KS3 focus on oracy is our main tool to achieve ambitious outcomes for all students, as articulating their thought processes demands a more rigorous understanding of the content than simply learning procedures.

A real strength of the maths department is our high standard for engagement (Engage Fully) seen throughout lessons, driven by extensive use of mini whiteboards, meaning that all students are expected to think for themselves and contribute answers.

At all stages we prioritise students’ ability to talk like, write like and think like a mathematician using the strategies listed above. Regardless of key stage students are given opportunities to learn the key formulas/procedures required for success in maths, but also apply these to solve problems.

Our curriculum supports students from disadvantaged backgrounds, those with low prior attainment, and those with SEN.

At KS3, a Support scheme of learning is studied by students with low prior attainment, ensuring that they are taught the fundamental knowledge crucial to future understanding, but can also experience success – meaning they do not get disillusioned with maths. A Focus on concrete -> abstract -> pictorial at KS3 supports all students to access the curriculum and develop deeper understanding.

At KS4, Core Training is delivered at four levels to ensure all students get targeted support to match their current attainment levels and to promote stretch and challenge from this. The use of Entry Level Maths ensures every student leaves Cleeve School with a maths qualification.

At all Key Stages, targeted interventions are provided with a key focus given to Disadvantaged/SEN students. Our ‘I Do, We Do, You Do’ structure provides a scaffold to develop independent learning over time.

Chunking is a key principle in lesson design and an extensive use of mini whiteboards facilitates live feedback and correction of misconceptions. Our spiralised curriculum leverages the benefits of the retrieval effect. We also link lessons to real-world problems so that students realise how maths can be used to solve the problems facing our world.

Our KS3 curriculum has an interwoven structure, which makes the links between different areas of mathematics explicit. For example, pie charts are first encountered within a unit on fractions of amounts and nth term is encountered when students plot straight line graphs.

At KS4, our curriculum is sequenced in a logical way so new topics are only introduced when prerequisite knowledge is secure. For example, students solve quadratic simultaneous equations after they have learnt about graphical linear simultaneous equations, which allows teachers to link quadratic simultaneous equations to their graphical representation.

Frequent standardised assessment ensures we build a detailed knowledge of students’ strengths and weaknesses over time. This data is actively used to inform future planning. Every assessment is followed by a dedicated feedback lesson.

Key revision skills are embedded into our curriculum through our Sparx scheme of work, which is deliberately delayed to leverage the benefits of the retrieval effect.