Mathematics & Statistics

The purpose of the AGFS Mathematics & Statistics curriculum is:

• To promote ambition by providing a rigorous and far-reaching mathematics education that brings all the opportunities of a great education: access to further study and careers.
• To develop growth by giving scholars the opportunity to experience ‘controlled failure’ and develop resilience and independence.
• To encourage fellowship by giving scholars the knowledge to think critically about the world and acknowledge different perspectives.
• To cultivate scholarship by promoting a love of knowledge for its own sake, to develop a pursuit of mastery in each academic discipline. This is further developed through UKMT, STEAM enrichment and trips.

The Mathematics and Statistics curriculum is organised by the power standards. These standards reflect the essence of the subject as an academic discipline and reflect the strands of each discipline that must be developed to achieve mastery. These threads are cross-referenced against the KS3 national curriculum, GCSE, A Level specification and degree courses at Russell Group universities to ensure that scholars’ experience of the subject is as broad and as academically rigorous as possible. 

The Mathematics power standards are:

1. Consolidate numerical and mathematical capability from Key Stage 2
2. Use and apply standard techniques (AO1)
3. Reason, interpret and communicate mathematically (AO2)
4. Solve problems within Mathematics and in other contexts (AO3)

The Statistics power standards are:                                                

1. To know and apply statistical terminology to any context.
2. To know and apply standard statistical techniques to collect and represent information.
3. To be able to calculate summary statistics and probabilities.
4. To interpret statistical information and results in context and reason statistically to draw conclusions.
5. To assess the appropriateness of statistical methodologies and the conclusions drawn from them.

All Year 7 subjects Next Year 7 Subject - English

All Year 8 subjects Next Year 8 Subject - English

All Year 9 subjects Next Year 9 Subject - English

All Year 10 subjects Next Year 10 Subject - English

All Year 10 subjects Next Year 10 Subject - English

All Year 10 subjects Next Year 10 Subject - English

All Year 11 subjects Next Year 11 Subject - English

All Year 11 subjects Next Year 11 Subject - English

All Year 11 subjects Next Year 11 Subject - English

Recommended websites/ online platforms:

• Sparx Maths
• https://revisionmaths.com/
• https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk/gcse.html
• https://www.statsacademy.co.uk/

Recommended activities to complete with your child:

• Times Tables
• Sparx Maths based on content taught in lesson
• Sparx Stretch Task
• https://tinyurl.com/tenminutemathstests
• Y11: Passport to Success

Scholars receive verbal, self and peer feedback every lesson through:

• Whole class feedback on common misconceptions in the read now, recall now activities and during daily review.
• Responses to whole class checking for understanding activities, such as hand signal responses, ‘heads down’ and mini whiteboard tasks. 
• Teacher intentional monitoring during deliberate practice activities. 

Scholars are expected to respond in the moment to this feedback to show they can correct errors and improve their knowledge and understanding. 

Scholars receive written teacher feedback after each checkpoint. Scholars complete checkpoint tasks independently so teachers can review what they know and can do. Checkpoints in Mathematics consist of:

• Section A: Knowledge Check questions assessing Core Knowledge
• Section B: Exam Style questions covering the Power Standards
• Section C: A revision section based on content taught the previous academic year

Written feedback from checkpoints will consist of:

• A score for section A, section B and section C.
• Celebration of what has gone well. 
• Identification of a high leverage target. 

Scholars will complete a refinement task to show their understanding of the target and to demonstrate their capacity to improve their work. This could be achieved through redrafting a section of their work or attempting a similar task.

Success in Mathematics can lead to careers in:

• Accountancy
• Finance
• Architecture 
• Data Science 
• Medicine
• Research
• Aerospace Engineering

In 2017, Sir Adrian Smith published a review of post-16 mathematics education for the government. Some key quotes from the report can be found below:

• ‘Adults with basic numeracy skills earn higher wages and are more likely to be in employment than those who fail to master these skills.’
• ‘Individuals who achieve five or more good GCSEs (including English and mathematics) as their highest qualification have a lifetime productivity gain worth around £100,000 compared to those with below level 2 or no qualifications.’
• ‘Around half of individuals in jobs where mathematical sciences qualifications are essential were found to have salaries of £29,000 or more, compared with only 19 per cent of the UK workforce overall.’
• ‘In the UK, around seven in ten employees report that quantitative skills are essential or important to carry out their work.  In 2012, around 20 per cent of young people in the UK did not have basic skills.’

Through the study of Mathematics, scholars will be exposed to a range of culturally enriching knowledge and experiences. Our scholars gain:

• basic numeracy for real world application.
• the ability to interpret and evaluate credibility of statistical diagrams in real life.
• the ability to represent data convincingly.
• financial understanding for real world application.
• the ability to evaluate credibility of financial offers.
• spatial understanding for creative/technical/physical industries.
• graphical understanding complementary to Science and Geography curriculum, providing future opportunities in both fields.

Mathematics contribution to the enrichment programme:

• Axiom Maths Club
• Junior Maths Challenge (UKMT)

Mathematics contribution to Drop Down Days and the trips and visits programme:

• Dedicated STEAM days within school
• Royal Greenwich Observatory Trip
• Science Museum Trip
• Maths Challenge Trip with Ark schools