Overall Aims
Maths at Queensbury School is there to help our young persons become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics; ensure that pupils develop confidence and mental fluency which is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment. This is done by:
- Solving problems by helping students to 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.
- Reasoning mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
- Most importantly making maths fun and linked to real life.
| KS3 | Intent (Why are we doing it) | Implement (How we are going to do it) | Impact (What we want to see and develop) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery | Queensbury Maths Discovery curriculum takes into account the fact that many of our students have additional needs which include learning, communication, physical and social and emotional difficulties. We aim to promote independence, understanding of the world and confidence. Out aim is to be creative and still provide depth and ambition to our student’s maths journey. We develop skills around money, time, addition and subtraction. | Use concrete, abstract and pictorial approach to develop a deep and sustainable understanding of maths. Learning will be delivered using the CPA Approach (Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract). CPA is a highly effective approach to teaching that develops a deep and sustainable understanding of maths in pupils. Our students can find maths difficult because it is abstract. Students will engage with a wide and varied range of concrete manipulatives, pictorial representations and abstract methodologies within each session. Concrete and pictorial references scaffold and strengthen understanding and are widely used as a teaching and learning tool. | Develop skills linked to response, curiosity and discovery. Students become attentive to a new stimulus. Students start to react in a meaningful way. By the end of KS3 we expect the vast majority of our students to have developed confidence with whole numbers, counting and place value including working with numerals, words, addition and subtraction. |
| Explorer | Queensbury Maths Explorer curriculum Our main focus is to provide pupils with the skills they need for when they leave Queensbury and begin their journey and preparation into adulthood and the world of work. We aim to support student communication and interaction through their curiosity of maths. | Students participate, interpret and communicate mathematical information. How do they know? Can they explain why it happens? Is there a link to real life? | Students comprehend, interpret and communicate mathematical information in a variety of forms appropriate to the information and context. Students start to use correct terminology. |
| Navigator | Queensbury Maths Navigation curriculum aims to be ambitious to give all learners the knowledge, self-belief and cultural capital they need to succeed in life, through resilience, promoting independence and the necessary maths skills for adulthood and further study .Getting students to apply mathematics to both routine and non-routine problems, including breaking down more complex problems so promote independence and adulthood maths skills. | Support and promoting their confidence and developing their application. | Applying their understanding and giving solutions to multi step problems. Demonstrate greater confidence with numbers and shape and application. |
| Venture | Queensbury Maths Venture curriculum aims to build resilience and trust in relationships. Having an ambitious, yet bespoke curriculum which is formal and semi formal, we aim to identify gaps in our student’s knowledge and give opportunities at Entry level and GCSE. | The Curriculum for Venture groups will be individualised depending on needs and outcome of assessments on entry into the school. Support and promoting their confidence and developing their application encouraging pupils to contribute positively to life in modern Britain. Active learning with the aid of specialist mathematical equipment. | Our vision is for students to complete key stage 3 having gained a good knowledge and understanding of the core numeracy skills. Depending on cohort students will apply their understanding and giving solutions to multi step problems. Show greater awareness and understanding of links between maths and the real world. They show the ability to capitalise on fluency in mathematic terminology and equipment. |
| Quest | Queensbury Maths Quest curriculum at Queensbury aims to maximise opportunities for developing student communication, independence, understanding of the world around them and supporting their interaction. Where continue to give students a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject and provide opportunities for channelling, practicing and reinforcement. | The semi-formal curriculum including structured and unstructured learning develops the CPA Approach (Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract). CPA is a highly effective approach to teaching that develops a deep and sustainable understanding of maths in pupils. | By the end of KS3 we expect the vast majority of our students to be confident using whole numbers, counting and place value including working with numerals, words, addition and subtraction. |
| KS4 | Intent (Why are we doing it) | Implement (How we are going to do it) | Impact (What we want to see and develop) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discovery | Queensbury Maths Discovery curriculum takes into account the fact that many of our students have additional needs which include learning, communication, physical and social and emotional difficulties. We aim to promote independence, understanding of the world and confidence. Out aim is to be creative and still provide depth and ambition to our student’s maths journey. We develop skills around money, time, addition and subtraction. | Help our pupils acquire a growing understanding of the numbers, time, money and shape through personalised learning outcomes. Learning is sequenced to support understanding. Continue using the CPA Approach (Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract), this will build on pupil’s existing knowledge by introducing abstract concepts in a concrete and tangible way. It involves moving from concrete materials, to pictorial representations, to abstract symbols and problems. | Students ascertain a greater awareness of themselves, their environment in which they live and the mathematical world around them. By the end of KS4 students will become increasingly fluent with whole numbers and the four operations, including number facts and the concept of place value. They will have worked towards AQA Unit Award Scheme, this is an important pathway for our students to receive accreditation for their achievements. |
| Explorer | Queensbury Maths Explorer curriculum Our main focus is to provide pupils with the skills they need for when they leave Queensbury and begin their journey and preparation into adulthood and the world of work. We aim to support student communication and interaction through their curiosity of maths. | Promote independence by developing fluent knowledge, skills and understanding Teaching is designed to teaching is designed to help learners to remember in the long term the content. | Greater fluency and application. Ability to understand the importance of math in their lives. |
| Navigator | Queensbury Maths Navigation curriculum aims to be ambitious to give all learners the knowledge, self-belief and cultural capital they need to succeed in life, through resilience, promoting independence and the necessary maths skills for adulthood and further study .Getting students to apply mathematics to both routine and non-routine problems, including breaking down more complex problems so promote independence and adulthood maths skills. | Sequenced learning outcomes which is ambitious and challenging link to given our young persons greater career opportunities and life skills. | Students develop problem solving and reasoning skills. Start to link maths to certain career choice and college places. |
| Venture | Queensbury Maths Venture curriculum aims to build resilience and trust in relationships. Having an ambitious, yet bespoke curriculum which is formal and semi formal, we aim to identify gaps in our student’s knowledge and give opportunities at Entry level and GCSE. | Incorporate active learning with sufficient flexibility to follow a thematic approach and time needed to meet the individual student needs and interventions. | Prepare students for adulthood and a better understanding of the world around them by reasoning mathematically, solving problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and nonroutine problems. |
Examples.
Delivery of Maths is supported via educational trips (annual visit for KS4 students to RAF Cosford) working with HSBC Bank, Healthy Tuck Shop Money Management, celebration of world maths day, parent workshops, visit to local Tesco and raising money all year round for various charities.
Promotion of careers and real life linked to maths is embedded within the curriculum planning.