‘Good mathematics is not about how many answers you know… it’s about how you behave when you don’t know’ – Anonymous
The Maths department at The West Grantham Church of England Secondary Academy comprises three full-time teaching staff and an Intervention Co-ordinator. Our team shares a genuine love and passion for maths and this is something we try to share with our students every day.
We support the school’s values by developing our students’ Creativity, Responsibility and Wisdom in all of our lessons:
- We encourage a creative approach to problem solving, aiming to get students to understand that there is rarely only one way to approach a problem
- We promote a responsible and helpful approach to learning, through a balance of independent, paired and group tasks in lessons
- We seek to foster the wisdom that grows from gaining a deeper understanding of the subject matter and a breadth of mathematical knowledge that will put all students in a strong position wherever they go after year 11
We understand the need for students to really understand the how and why of each topic that we study. We follow a mastery programme which builds systematically on prior knowledge. We regularly quiz students through spaced retrieval and low stakes testing to ensure that everything that has been taught is understood and so that students can see the links between topics.
Team and roles within the department
Mrs Dray – Curriculum Team Leader
Mr Gregory – Mathematics Teacher
Miss Carling – Mathematics Teacher
Mrs Dexter – Maths Intervention Co-ordinator
KS3
At KS3, we aim to build on the skills learned in primary school while incorporating a more structured approach to the 5 mains strands of Maths: Number, Algebra, Geometry, Data and Probability and Ratio and Proportion.
Students are generally set in ability groups from year 8 which ensures a more tightly homogenised scheme of learning for each group.
KS4
During KS4, students are preparing for their GCSE at the end of Year 11. We currently use AQA as our examination board, which means that all students will sit three 90 minute papers at the end of year 11. Paper 1 is a non-calculator paper but students are encouraged to use a calculator for papers 2 and 3.
For this reason, we encourage all students to have their own calculators.
Enrichment
Please click here for more information of our enrichment timetable.
In Maths we also offer:
- UKMT Junior Maths Challenge for years 7 and 8 students
- UKMT Intermediate Maths Challenge for years 9, 10 and 11 students
- UKMT Team Challenge – for a team of 4 students from years 7, 8 or 9
Useful websites
This is not an exhaustive list, and is purely opinions. Please see your teacher for further resource links.
