Maths

Mathematical thinking is important for all members of a modern society – it has value in the workplace, business and finance, and is important for personal decision-making. It provides the tools required for understanding science, engineering, technology and economics and is essential in public decision-making – it is therefore important to national prosperity.

 

An understanding of Mathematics equips us all with uniquely powerful ways to describe, analyse and change the world. Students who are functional in Mathematics and financially capable can think independently in applied and abstract ways, and can reason, solve problems and assess risk.

 

At Haygrove School students are taught in ability groups throughout their five years at secondary school. They follow a scheme of work which incorporates all aspects of Mathematics and is taught using a variety of styles and resources. The different methods used aim to develop a positive attitude to the subject for all our students and allow them to see it as a valuable area of study. At Key Stage 4 (Years 10 and 11) students are allocated to either Higher or Foundation level based on their assessments during Key Stage 3 (Years 7 - 9).

 

Key Stage 3 (Year 7/8/9)

Since the introduction of the new GCSE specification in 2016, we have changed the way in which we assess our students in Maths. Rather than receiving a ‘level’ as they would have done previously, students are awarded a percentage but are also given a PLC (personal learning checklist) which identifies topics as either Red, Amber or Green. Students can then use online resources such as Hegarty Maths to improve their skills ready for re-assessment. Assessments take place towards the end of each half term.

Key Stage 4 (Year10/11)

Assessment is primarily via practice GCSE papers. Students will sit 6 GCSE papers in Year 10 and 6 GCSE papers in Year 11 (November/March). Based on the outcomes of these assessments students will receive a predicted GCSE grade. This is the grade that we believe the student will achieve at the end of Year 11.

After each practice exam, students will receive a Personalised Learning Checklist (PLC) telling them the maths topics that they need to improve and resources are provided to support this (see link below).

The new specification for GCSE has an increased focus on problem solving. This means that exam boards are testing whether students can apply a variety of different maths skills to one particular problem. Time is spent coaching the students in how to do this, and resources to help problem solving are included at the link below.

GCSE Maths Revision Resourses

Topic Papers
Revision Posters
Learning Resources

 

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