Mathematics

Introduction

The mathematics department aims to develop within students a confidence for using mathematical procedures and a love of problem solving questions. We recognise the importance of numeracy skills across the curriculum and aim to develop these skills so that our students can critically analyse data from a science experiment, interpret information from a graph in geography, or estimate lengths and weights in design and technology lessons.

Having strong number skills is associated with improved health, financial security and happiness in later life. At Isleworth & Syon, we are equally as proud of the fact that we are preparing our boys for a better future as we are of our strong examination results and the number of boys who go on to study mathematics at university.

KS3

Summary

Students at Isleworth & Syon follow a five-year scheme of work with the aim of building on the numeracy skills that they developed at primary school and developing confidence and abilities so that these skills can be applied in the wider world and of course be used successfully in GCSE examinations later in school.

We start with a strong focus on number skills so that pupils are not only fluent in the basics, but can apply them to different settings, identify misconceptions and use them to solve problems. At all stages, extension activities are available in the form of more challenging problems aimed both at developing a deep understanding of the topic and making the next steps in gaining knowledge.

Curriculum Content

Year 7

Curriculum

Autumn Term

Introduction to Algebra
Key Numeracy Skills
2D Shapes
Percentages

Spring Term

Collecting Data
Equations
3D Shapes
Averages

Summer Term

Sequences
Problem Solving Skills

Assessment

Ongoing Assessments
Regular low-stakes assessments in class will allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the most recent unit that they have covered. Teachers respond to the work in these assessments to indicate the next steps in learning. There are also end of term assessments which cover the topics studied in that term.

End-of-Term Assessments
These will be used to judge boys progress across the key elements of maths: numeracy, algebra, data handling and shape.

End of Year
End-of-year examinations provide the opportunity for boys to demonstrate the progress they have made towards becoming rounded mathematicians.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

PPA is set on Insight / Parent Portal by class teachers generally on a weekly basis.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find maths resources.

Year 8

Curriculum

Autumn Term

Ratio and proportion
Displaying Data
Transformations
Graphs

Spring Term

Interpreting Data
Number Properties
Circles
Inequalities

Summer Term

Constructions
Probability
Financial Literacy

Assessment

Ongoing assessments
Regular low stakes assessments in class will allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the most recent unit that they have covered. Teachers respond to the work in these assessments to indicate the next steps in learning. There are also end of term assessments which cover the topics studied in that term.

End-of-Term Assessments
These will be used to judge boys progress across the key elements of maths: numeracy, algebra, data handling and shape.

End of Year
End-of-year examinations provide the opportunity for boys to demonstrate the progress they have made towards becoming rounded mathematicians.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

PPA is set on Insight / Parent Portal by class teachers generally on a weekly basis.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find maths resources.

KS4

Summary

The Key Stage 4 curriculum builds on the progress students will have made in Years 7 and 8. Students continue to work towards their Mathematics GCSE in Years 10 and 11. In Year 10, students complete the GCSE in Statistics alongside their Mathematics work.

GCSE Mathematics

Specification Code: 1MA1
Level: GCSE
Examination Board: Edexcel

Year 9

Curriculum

Foundation Tier

Number

Integers and place value
Decimals
Indices, powers and roots
Factors, multiples and primes

Algebra

The basics
Expanding and factorising single brackets
Expressions and substitution into formulae

Graphs, tables and charts

Tables, charts and graphs
Pie charts
Scatter graphs

Fractions, decimals and percentages

Equations, inequalities and sequences

Angles

Properties of shapes, parallel lines and angle facts
Interior and exterior angles of polygons

Averages and range

Statistics and sampling
The different averages

Perimeter, area and volume

Higher Tier

Number

Calculations and checking
Indices, roots, hierarchy of operations
Factors, multiples and primes
Standard form and surds

Algebra

Basics
Setting up, rearranging and solving equations
Sequences

Graphs

Basics and real-life graphs
Linear graphs and coordinate geometry
Quadratic, cubic and other graphs

Area and volume

Perimeter, area and circles
3D forms and volume, cylinders, cones and spheres
Accuracy and bounds

Transformation and constructions

Transformations
Constrictions, loci and bearings

Interpreting and representing data

Averages and range
resenting and interpreting data
Scatter graphs

Fractions, ratio and proportion

Fractions
Percentages
Ratio and proportion

Assessment

Ongoing assessments
Regular informal assessments in class will allow students to demonstrate fluency, reasoning, application, a knowledge of misconceptions and the ability to solve problems. These are all contained in the Mastery Folders that each of our boys has at school. Teachers respond to the work in these booklets to indicate the next steps in learning.

Termly and End of Year
Examinations provide the opportunity for boys to demonstrate the progress they have made towards becoming rounded mathematicians. Tests in Year 9 start to include questions from GCSE examinations.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

PPA is set on Insight / Parent Portal by class teachers generally on a weekly basis.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find maths resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 9 curriculum.

NRICH – resources, articles and challenges for able lower secondary pupils.
5-a-day – students can benefit massively by completing the foundation questions from this site. Everybody knows you need your 5 a day!
Dr. Frost Maths – excellent source of independent revision including videos and tracking of progress across the key skills.
Corbett Maths – topic-specific past examination questions. Very useful for targeted revision time.
Maths Genie – the best website to find free-to-access full past papers.

Year 10

Curriculum

In Year 10, students will study the following topics:

Foundation Tier

Graphs, tables and charts

Tables, charts and graphs
Pie charts
Scatter graphs

Graphs

Real-life graphs
Straight-line graphs

Averages and range

Statistics and sampling
The averages

Transformations

Translations, rotations and reflections
Enlargements and combinations

Probability

Right-angles triangles

Pythagoras and trigonometry

Multiplicative reasoning

Constructions, loci and bearings

Plans and elevations
Constructions, loci and bearings

Quadratic equations and graphs

Expanding and factorising
Quadratic graphs

Perimeter, area and volume

Circles, cylinders, cones and spheres

Higher Tier

Graphs

Basics and real-life graphs
Linear graphs and coordinate geometry
Quadratic, cubic and other graphs

Transformation and constructions

Transformations
Constrictions, loci and bearings

Interpreting and representing data

Averages and range
Representing and interpreting data
Scatter graphs

Further statistics

Collecting data
Cumulative frequency, box plots and histograms

Angles and trigonometry

Polygons, angles and parallel lines
Pythagoras’ Theorem and trigonometry

Equations and inequalities

Solving quadratic and simultaneous equations
Inequalities

Probability

Equations and graphs
Quadratics, expanding more than two brackets, sketching graphs, graphs of circles, cubes and quadratics

Circle theorems and circle geometry

Assessment

Ongoing assessment in class provides opportunities for feedback on how pupils can improve. An end of year exam gives a measure how pupils are progressing towards the examinations in Year 11.

External examinations in Year 10 are for GCSE Statistics (see below), not GCSE Mathematics.

Progress & Preparation Activities (PPA)

PPA is set on Insight / Parent Portal by class teachers generally on a weekly basis.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find maths resources.

Tasks will be set weekly using the Dr. Frost Maths website. This is also an excellent resource for revision including videos and accurate tracking of what each boy has learnt about during their home learning.
Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 10 curriculum.

NRICH – resources, articles and challenges for able lower secondary pupils.
5-a-day – students can benefit massively by completing the foundation questions from this site. Everybody knows you need your 5 a day!
Dr. Frost Maths – excellent source of independent revision including videos and tracking of progress across the key skills.
Corbett Maths – topic-specific past examination questions. Very useful for targeted revision time.
Maths Genie – the best website to find free-to-access full past papers.

Year 11

Curriculum

In Year 11, students will study the following topics:

Foundation Tier

Algebra, equations, inequalities and sequences
Angles, perimeter, area and volume
Transformations
Ratio and proportion
Right-angles triangles
Construction, loci and bearings
Quadratic equations and graphs
Fractions, indices and standard form
Congruence, similarity and vectors

Higher Tier

Standard form and surds
Percentages
Solving equations and simplifying algebraic fractions
Proportion, ratio and scale
Function notation
Transformations
Pythagoras’ Theorem and trigonometry
Circle geometry
Direct and indirect proportion
Solving quadratic equations
Transformations of graphs

Assessment

Written examination (calculator 1) – 1 hour 30 minutes – 33.3% of GCSE
Written examination (calculator 2) – 1 hour 30 minutes – 33.3% of GCSE
Written examination (non-calculator) – 1 hour 30 minutes – 33.3% of GCSE

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find maths resources.

Please see below for a number of resources to maximise students’ progress during their Year 11 curriculum.

NRICH – resources, articles and challenges for able lower secondary pupils.
5-a-day – students can benefit massively by completing the foundation questions from this site. Everybody knows you need your 5 a day!
Dr. Frost Maths – excellent source of independent revision including videos and tracking of progress across the key skills.
Corbett Maths – topic-specific past examination questions. Very useful for targeted revision time.
Maths Genie – the best website to find free-to-access full past papers.

GCSE Statistics

Specification Code: 1ST0
Level: GCSE
Examination Board: Edexcel

Year 10

Curriculum

Topics are integrated with the GCSE Mathematics curriculum above.

Assessment

Written examination – 1 hour 30 minutes – 50% of GCSE
Written examination – 1 hour 30 minutes – 50% of GCSE

These will be sat in the summer term of Year 10.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find maths resources.

BBC Bitesize: GCSE Statistics – several videos applying the statistics taught in the course to the real world.
YouTube: Statistics Revision Videos – good explanations of some key topics.

KS5

Summary

The current A level curriculum consists of compulsory content consisting of pure mathematics, statistics, and mechanics. All assessment is by examination at the end of Year 13.

A level Mathematics

Specification Code: 8371, 9371
Level: A-Level
Examination Board: Edexcel

Curriculum

In Year 12, students take the following topics:

Pure, covering the following topics: Algebra & Functions, Coordinate Geometry in the (x,y) plane, Sequences & Series, Differentiation, and Integration.
Statistics, covering the following topics: Measures of Spread, Probability, Correlation, Regression, Discrete Random Variables and the Normal Distribution.
Mechanics, covering the following topics: Kinematics, Collisions, Dynamics, Statics, Moments and Vectors

In Year 13, students will continue to study Pure, Statistics and Mechanics, expanding on the concepts they start in Year 12.

Assessment

Chapter Tests
There will be regular chapter tests (normally 2 or 3 chapters combined) to allow us to track students understanding and their progress through the year.

End of Year 12
There will be a formal end of year assessment used to assess whether students have made enough progress and what additional interventions need to be in place to help them achieve their best in Year 13.

Examinations
Assessment in by examination at the end of Year 13. This consists of three 2-hour written papers, the first two papers cover Pure Mathematics and Paper 3 is the Statistics and Mechanics paper. Each paper is weighted equally and each paper can cover topics covered in either Year 12 or Year 13.

Further Resources

The school has a subscription to The Day, an online news service for schools. Click the button to the right, then browse ‘Subjects’ in the top menu to find maths resources.

Maths Genie – the resources here are mostly past examinatiion papers but there is also an increasing number of topic-specific resources appearing regularly.
Dr. Frost Maths – this site has videos, activities and full lessons available for all students. PPA may also be set through Dr. Frost.
Exam solutions – videos explaining how to complete past exam questions. The best way to use this website is to attempt the question and then compare your working with the video.

Extra-Curricular

We run a variety of activities for students outside of the classroom. These include:

UK Maths Challenge activities (Junior, Intermediate, Senior)
Team mathematics competitions
KS3 PPA club