Maths
The faculty
Staff
Currently, the Mathematics team at King James’s School consists of nine full-time and two part-time teachers. The members of staff are:
|
Wayne Horn (Head of Maths) |
Clare Barker (2nd in Maths) |
Laura Kington (2nd in Maths) |
| Sarah Baddock (part-time) | Jason Battye | Mark Crossley |
| Amy Slater | Linda Scott | Sam Calvert |
Accommodation and Resources
Mathematics uses a suite of seven rooms, all of which are fitted with either Promethean Interactive Whiteboards or Iiyama Interactive Board. The boards have all been upgraded in the last three years.
Time Allocation
The school operates a 50-period fortnightly timetable, with five 60-minute lessons per day.
Currently, in Years 7-9, students have seven lessons per fortnight, and in Years 10-11, eight lessons per fortnight.
Schemes of Work
Key Stage 3
During year 7 & 8 students follow the White Rose Maths Scheme of Learning. Many local primary schools also use White Rose Maths resources, and students find this familiar and re-assuring. The Scheme of Learning encourages them to make links between topics as well as deepen their knowledge, whilst often revising topics to strengthen their understanding.
During year 9, we move to a bespoke Scheme of Learning which re-visits key topics and develops new skills ready for Key Stage 4.
Key Stage 4
All our students are entered for GCSE Mathematics. We currently offer two courses, one at Higher and the other at Foundation, both with AQA. Each examination is comprised of two calculator papers and a non-calculator paper. Courses are supported by AQA GCSE Maths from Collins Publishing, as well as a variety of online resources.
We also offer ELC in Mathematics where appropriate, awarded by AQA, whilst Year 11 students in the higher sets are offered the opportunity to study for the AQA Further Maths Level 2 Certificate during after school sessions.
All students are set an appropriate amount of homework each week. This consolidates learning done in class and enhances understanding. The Department now sets this using the SPARX maths learning platform.
Students in Key Stage 3 also have access to TT Rockstars, where students can compete against other classes, forms and year groups in battles.
Achievements
Exam grades at GCSE have been consistently excellent over the last few years achieving some of the best grades across the school.
Extra-Curricular Activities
The department runs a number of activities, including KS4 Gifted & Talented students following the AQA Further Maths Level 2 Certificate. This takes place after school over a one-year period.
Competitions and Challenges
The Department enters students for the UKMT Junior and Intermediate Mathematical Challenges each year. We are very proud of our recent results:
| Intermediate Maths Challenge (Feb 2024): 33 Bronze, 18 Silver, 3 Gold. 2 students qualified for the Pink Kangaroo. |
Junior Maths Challenge (Apr 2024): 38 Bronze, 7 Silver and 6 Gold. 4 students qualified for the Kangaroo round |
King James’s School also enter two teams to Greenhead College’s Pop Maths Quiz each summer. Teams from our school won the competition in both 2018, 2019 and 2022, and are often placed in the top three. In addition, the school enters students for the local Rotary technology challenge.
The curriculum
Curriculum Intent
The Maths specific Curriculum Intent can be found here:
Assessment Guidance
The Maths approach to Assessment can be found here:
Learning Journey
The Maths Curriculum Sequences can be found here:
Golden Knowledge Organisers
The school defines 'Golden Knowledge' as being the most important content to Remember and Understand, as it represents the main building blocks of the curriculum.
The Maths 'Golden Knowledge' for each year group can be found here:
Year on a page
The summary of each Year Group's curriculum can be found here:
