Teaching Programme
The course follows the framework for teaching mathematics as laid down in the Key Stage 3 National Strategy.
Aims and Learning Outcomes
The course should enable students to:
- Develop knowledge, skills and understanding of mathematical methods and concepts
- Acquire and use problem-solving strategies
- Select and apply mathematical techniques and methods in mathematical, everyday and real world situations
- Reason mathematically, make deductions and inferences and draw conclusions
- Interpret and communicate mathematical information in a variety of forms appropriate to the information and context
Assessment
- Teacher assessment, where judgements are made through observation, marking and written assessment of the topics covered
- Formal assessment, where progress is assessed through examinations taken in November and June which equate to National Curriculum levels.
Yearly Teaching Programmes
They are organised in six strands, linked to the National Curriculum programmes of study. The more detailed key objectives for each year can be found in the scheme of work. The six strands and the topics they cover are:
Using and applying mathematics to solve problems
- problem solving and applications in a variety of contexts to develop reasoning
Numbers and the Number system
- place value, ordering and rounding
- integers, powers and roots
- fractions, decimals and percentages, ratio and proportion
Calculations
- number operations and the relationships between them
- mental methods and rapid recall of number facts
- written methods
- calculator methods
- checking results
Algebra
- equations, formulae and identities
- sequences, functions and graphs
Shape, space and measures
- geometrical reasoning: lines, angles and shapes
- transformations
- coordinates
- construction and loci
- measures and mensuration
Handling Data
- specify a problem, planning and collecting data
- processing and representing data
- interpreting and discussing results
- probability
From January in year 9, students begin their study of GCSE Unit 1, assessed in the following November when they are in year 10. See the GCSE curriculum summary for further details.