Maths
Central to the teaching philosophy of the Mathematics Faculty at Mountbatten is that everyone can achieve success in Mathematics, regardless of starting point. In line with the Mountbatten 3D Curriculum, we are committed to helping develop students into becoming confident and resilient problem solvers. The Maths curriculum is designed to foster the skills of fluency, reasoning and problem-solving through a mastery approach.
Students are helped to develop their verbal and written communications skills in order to explain their methods. “Showing your thinking” is not just a requirement for assessments via step-by-step workings, it is necessary in order for students to explain and justify their reasoning, as well as follow the reasoning of their peers.
“Mathematics is powerful because it allows us to show things to be absolutely true, and not just a question of judgment or opinion. If you can reason mathematically, you can make discoveries about the world around you, and you can persuade others through a logical chain of reasoning. Whether it’s spotting patterns in ecosystems or encrypting credit card information, Maths matters. Becoming good at Maths is a lot like being a detective: taking what you know, looking for clues, reasoning logically, testing out ideas, and putting all of that together to solve problems. With a little work, you can find the answers to problems that at first seemed impossible. This sense of achievement is what makes Maths so interesting and satisfying to study.”
Lower School
The Lower School curriculum builds upon the Key Stage 2 curriculum with a great emphasis initially placed on the acquisition of number skills and a deep understanding of place value and the number system. Students calculate in a variety of contexts and use a wide variety of number forms (decimals, fractions, percentages, negative numbers, etc.). This way, understanding is deepened and procedural fluency is developed, both with and without a calculator, mentally and on paper. Understanding of abstract concepts is gradually built throughout the three years in Lower School.
Year 7
In Year 7 students cover the following 10 units:
Number Skills; Analysing and Displaying Data; Expressions, Functions and Formulae; Decimals and Measures; Fractions and Percentages; Probability; Ratio and Proportion; Lines and Angles; Sequences and Graphs; and Transformations
Year 8
In Year 8 students cover the following 10 units:
Number; Area and Volume; Statistics, Graphs and Charts; Expressions and Equations; Real Life Graphs; Decimals and Ratio; Lines and Angles; Calculating with Fractions; Straight-line Graphs; Percentages, Decimals and Fractions
Year 9
In Year 9, students cover the following 7 larger units:
Number; Algebra; Fractions, Decimals and Percentages; Geometry and Measures (Angles); Ratio and Proportion; Statistics and Probability.
Upper School
GCSE maths courses are taught from the beginning of Year 10 and build upon the solid foundation of the Lower School curriculum. Each syllabus covers content across the following strands: Number; Algebra; Ratio, proportion and rates of change; Geometry and measures; Probability; and Statistics.
Typically, students in sets 1-3 follow the Higher tier syllabus with sets 4-6 following the Foundation tier, although final decisions are not made until the Spring term of Year 11.
For some students the Number and Measure Award is offered as a stepping-stone qualification taken en route to the GCSE via assessments in the Summer Term of Year 10 and the Spring Term of Year 11. This Award is taught alongside the GCSE course in a complementary way.
We also offer GCSE Statistics as an option in the Upper School. This course complements and extends the statistics strand of the maths curriculum focussing on the following areas: collection of data; processing, representing and analysing data; and probability.
Facilities and Resources
The Mathematics Faculty boasts a high quality learning environment with a “teacher wall”, housing an interactive whiteboard in every classroom. We are lucky enough to have access to sets of Chromebooks and iPads so that students can use the latest technologies where appropriate to enhance more “traditional” experiences.
Google Classroom is used as a means of posting both written and online homework tasks, but also contains numerous links to useful resources on our Maths website that support students with their learning.
We subscribe to Hegarty Maths (www.hegartymaths.com) – a fantastic online Maths resource that comprises of a vast number of tutorial videos and quizzes to consolidate the learning that takes place in lessons. Each student is automatically signed up with a Hegarty Maths account.
Specific videos and quizzes can be assigned by their class teacher as regular homework, but students are also able to independently access any video or quiz at any time to support their work in class, follow any topics of particular interest as well as preparing for upcoming assessments.
The best way to LEARN maths is to DO maths."
Extra-Curricular and Trips
Year 7 students participate regularly in Times Tables Rockstars (TTRS) – a programme designed to improve fluency in times tables via the stimulus of rock music! Whilst this is a paper-based activity in class, an online version is available, where students can assume a Rockstar avatar of their design and engage in rock battles with students in their class, year, school or from schools across the country, all from the comfort of their own homes.
Year 8 students participate in Numeracy Ninjas – a free Key Stage 3 numeracy programme designed to fill gaps in students’ basic mental calculation strategies and also to empower them with the numeracy skills and fluency required to fully access GCSE Maths concepts when they move into the Upper School. Year 8 students also take part in our in-house annual festive themed ‘Number Day’ activity to help develop problem-solving skills.
The students enjoy a variety of opportunities to engage in mathematics outside the classroom. The School offer entry into Individual and Team Challenges run by the UK Mathematics Trust (UKMT). These are aimed at the most-able students in each year group and Mountbatten has enjoyed a high level of success in the recent past.
Contact
Mr Folliot is the Head of Maths, you can contact him through this email with the subject line marked "FAO: Mr Folliot Head of Maths".