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Maths

In the mathematics faculty we aim to inspire the mathematician in every student, developing fluency and confidence in using maths to reason and solve problems. We seek to do this without placing limits on the attainment of any student and while developing universal human values including anti-racism and challenging sexism, homophobia and other forms of discrimination.

 
CALCULATOR: We expect every student to have a scientific calculator as part of their school equipment and to bring it to every maths lesson. It is an essential piece of equipment for learning mathematics- and two out of three of the GCSE papers students will sit require a calculator.

It MUST be a scientific calculator. The one we would recommend is the CASIO FX-85GTX. The cheapest we have found it is at Asda for £12. We would recommend marking your calculator in permanent marker with your name-we can help with this if needed.

https://groceries.asda.com/product/calculators-desktop-accessories/casio-fx-85-gtx-scientific-calculator/1000103442639

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Below are the main units for each year group.  There is a link at the top of each year to a more detailed learning journey spelling out the key mathematics in each unit and with each unit there is a link to a fully detailed unit plan showing exactly what students will be learning. Some units start in one term but run over into the next term.

 

Year 8 
 Clubs, National Maths Competitions, Trips and Enrichment
 

 

 

 

NATIONAL MATHS COMPETITIONS

We enter a large number of students for the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Maths Challenges – national competitions run each year by the UK Maths Trust. Many gain certificates, and we have had students qualify for the follow-up “Kangaroo” national maths competitions too.

TRIPS AND ENRICHMENT

We try to enrich students learning of mathematics by integrating visits and trips wherever possible. This year we have done or plan to do:

Year 7: We hope to run a reward trip to Harry Potter studios just north of London as a reward trip for students who do particularly well in the Proportional Reasoning unit which explores this key area of maths through the Harry Potter films and books

Year 8: We hope to take all year 8 students on trips to the British Museum in central London to see some of the first units of measurement used in ancient Mesopotamia- and do a maths trail round the museum. This links to the Measuring the World unit students do at the start of year 8.

Year 9: We have taken all year 9 on a day out in central London where they walk around many key sites and do a maths trail

Year 10: We are taking all year 10 to Greenwich Park to visit the observatory and do a maths trail

Year 11: We have taken over 30 year 11s on a reward trip to Bletchley Park – the home of World War Two code breaking led by mathematician Alan Turing-chosen for their learning ethos over the autumn term.

Year 12 and 13: We are taking all sixth form maths students on a weekend residential to the Peak District in May, to give intensive support at this crucial time of year. We have also taken year 13 students to take part in the recording of the BBC/Royal Institution Christmas Lectures.

Cross Curricular Links 
   
   
Language, including oracy, and vocabulary a constant theme through all BOLD are things already done; lighter type things to be introduced next year
ALL YEARS BLACK HISTORY MONTH (October) SCIENCE; CITIZENSHIP, HISTORY: As part of whole celebration, in maths we will also show the film HIDDEN FIGURES to all classes over 2 lessons and preface it with a discussion of the mathematics of orbits (parabolas, ellipses, hyperbolas) appropriate to different year groups and follow it with discussion of issues raised in the film.
ALL YEARS LGBTQIA+ MONTH (February) COMPUTING, CITIZENSHIP, HISTORY: As part of whole celebration, in maths we will also have lessons - appropriate to each year group-on ALAN TURING and the MATHS OF COMPUTING (binary; algorithms)
Year 7  
Unit Links
Integers and Building a Classroom

CITIZENSHIP: Group working skills                   

HISTORY: Hypatia, Alexandria and Diophantine Equations; Robert Recorde and equals, and plus and minus symbols; Gauss and Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic

Language of Maths

HISTORY: Euclid, Greece and Egypt                            

SCIENCE: Variables in formulae                               

ENGLISH: imaginative writing in story for assessment explicitly linked to English 

COMPUTER SCIENCE: Binary, Logic, Algorithms and the language of digital technology

Proportional Reasoning

ENGLISH: Harry Potter books -and films- a key theme in this unit and students encouraged to read them                                                                

FOOD TECH: Recipes extensively used in this unit

Rational Numbers HISTORY: Egypt and fractions; India and origins of Zero and Brahmagupta and negatives (use of BBC programmes and comprehension exercises); John Venn and origin of Venn diagrams             
Grid Algebra 1

HISTORY: Al Khawirizmi and Islamic origins of algebra (including poster/essay HW on this)         

SCIENCE: Algebra used in scientific formulae          

Introduction to Shape

HISTORY: Greek and Roman roots of shape names and concept names; Islamic tiling patterns 

ART:  Use of shapes in design and buildings

Geometric Reasoning 1 HISTORY: Origins of 360 degrees in ancient Mesopotamia; Euclid and geometric reasoning; historical development of different ways of measuring angles
Collecting and Representing Data CITIZENSHIP: Finding out about our school and our students
Estimation 1 SCIENCE: Contexts taken from science used for estimation/rounding
Year 8  
Measuring the World HISTORY: Historical development of units; origins of the metric system in French revolution; History of imperial system; visit to British Museum and units based trail around ancient Mesopotamia     
Fractions, Decimals and Percentages HISTORY: History of decimal fractions from China to the Arab world to Simon Stevin and John Napier and history of percentage notation as shorthand in mediaeval manuscripts
Indices and Roots HISTORY: Rene Descartes and origins of modern index notation
Introduction to Ratio

GEOGRAPHY: Ratios and scales in maps                   

DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY: Ratio and scales in models

ART: Ratio in paint mixes and shades- a key activity in this unit

Grid Algebra 2: 

HISTORY: Development of equations and symbolism for solving them                                      

SCIENCE: Equations occurring in science used as contexts

Standard Form: SCIENCE: Whole unit relates to use of Standard Form in scientific contexts such as astronomy, chemistry, atomic physics, biology etc
Introduction to Probability SCIENCE: Assessing risk a theme in some activities and exercises
Representing and Interpreting Data HISTORY AND GEOGRAPHY: Use of data on historical development of Poplar
Year 9  
Developing ideas on Ratio

FOOD TECH: Mixing drinks and scaling recipes

GEOGRAPHY: More on map scales

Similarity DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY: Scales in models
Geometric Reasoning 2 HISTORY: Euclid and his Elements
Percentages CITIZENSHIP: Credit cards, banks, interest
Averages CITIZENSHIP: Race and inequality in society is the central theme of whole unit
Pythagoras HISTORY: History of the theorem, ancient Mesopotamia Egypt; who was Pythagoras?
Graphs and Functions 1 HISTORY: Rene Descartes and coordinates; Euler, Leibniz and the modern idea of and notation for a function
Circles HISTORY: From Babylon and Egypt to Archimedes and Euler-the history of Pi
Sequences, Patterns and Iteration HISTORY/SCIENCE/ART: Fibonacci sequence and its importance
Estimation 2 SCIENCE: Examples from Science used for context
Year 10  
Proof HISTORY: Different types of proof - Greeks and geometric and number proofs to Arabic scholars and algebraic proof.
Reasoning with and Interpreting Data GEOGRAPHY/HISTORY/CITIZENSHIP: Whole unit is based on interpreting, discussing and reasoning with graphs and data on a) Climate crisis b) Income inequality c) Racial inequality d) Gender inequality
Graphs and Functions 2 SCIENCE: Lost of the functions and graphs used are directly related to science
From 2D to 3D

HISTORY: Euclid and Platonic Solids; Greek and Roman origins of language and names of shapes and concepts; Conic Sections in ancient world

ART/DESIGN: Use of regular solids in building and design

SCIENCE: Regular solids in science-crystal forms                                  

Deepening Ratio and Proportion with Algebra SCIENCE: Laws of science involving direct and inverse and other proportions (e.g. gravity, Coulomb etc)
Construction and Geometry ART/DESIGN: Use of constructions and construction methods in drawings solving problems
Probability SCIENCE/CITIZENSHIP: Awareness of and assessment of risk in contexts such as medical/pandemic/lottery etc
Trigonometry HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY/SCIENCE: History of trigonometry and use in areas such as science (e.g. astronomy; ballistics and projectiles) and surveying and map making
year 11 ALL STUDENTS:
  GEOGRAPHY: Use of real maps and compasses in learning about bearings-including maps of London, South Downs and Bangladesh
  SCIENCE: Science used as contexts in studying formulae; equations; graphs and also in probability
   
   
   
  SOME STUDENTS:  HISTORY: Bletchley Park reward trip for 40 students showing best ethos in run up to Autumn PPE (4 from each set)
  HISTORY: Euclid's Elements and proof of circle theorems(Students doing Higher)
  GEOGRAPHY: Selected students joining sixth form residential in Peak District which involves learning about physical geography and map reading
   
Year 12 and 13  
PROOF HISTORY: Euclid and primes; Fermat and his theorem
LOGS HISTORY: Napier and his bones
BINOMIAL HISTORY: Pascal, Newton and infinite series binomial SCIENCE: Binomial applied in contexts
SEQUENCES SCIENCE: Modelling with sequences in context; HISTORY: Archimedes and approximating Pi
FUNCTIONS HISTORY: Origins of function notation; Bernoulli, Euler and e; History of trig functions SCIENCE: Parametric modelling in astronomical contexts
KINEMATICS SCIENCE: Modelling with sequences in context
DIFFERENTIATION HISTORY: Newton, Leibniz and the origins of calculus and our notations SCIENCE; Modelling with calculus in contexts
STATISTICS AND DATA 1 GEOGRAPHY; HISTORY; SCIENCE: Statistics used in contexts (including Large Data Set)
INTEGRATION

HISTORY: Riemann and Fundamental Theorem of Calculus

SCIENCE; Applying integration in contexts

PROBABILITY CITIZENSHIP AND SCIENCE; Probability used in context and in assessing risk (eg disease)
TRIGONOMETRY MUSIC: Harmonic formulae SCIENCE: Applications of trig in modelling (eg tides)
EXPONETIAL AND LOGS SCIENCE/ ECONOMICS/GEOGRAPHY: Modelling  with exponentials; reducing to linear lawa with logs in contexts
VECTORS and  DYNAMICS

SCIENCE: Modelling with vectors and in dynamics 

HISTORY: Galileo, Newton and his laws

NORMAL DISTRIBUTION SCIENCE/ CITIZENSHIP: Uses and abuses of Normal Distribution
HYPOTHESIS TESTING SCIENCE: Applications of hypothesis testing in contexts