1. What is the curriculum rationale in Mathematics?

Intent: purpose and values of Mathematics

An all-too-familiar question that students consistently ask teachers in Maths is “when will I use this in real life?” The misconception of the Maths curriculum is that students are acquiring knowledge which is often deemed surplus to everyday life. This misconception is further compounded by the typical response of “it’s in your GCSEs, that’s why”.

Does a student need to know Pythagoras’ Theorem to thrive in a world beyond school? Perhaps not, but if we only give our students ‘everyday’ knowledge, they will never be able to see or move beyond their everyday. Therefore, in maths, as in other subjects we are attempting to open our students’ eyes to the non-everyday knowledge that they can only experience through a good maths education.

Therefore, the question should be: Does knowing Pythagoras’ Theorem improve the opportunities that a student has to thrive in a world beyond school?

We believe that knowledge is powerful because cognitively, knowledge builds on knowledge. The more knowledge you have, the greater the capacity you have to learn more. The skills and knowledge that we build in our students are adaptable: the skills are transferable across maths and to a range of other subjects, and the knowledge provides students with fundamental understanding of how the universe works, and access to the work of great Mathematicians over time.

That students’ learning is not limited

Our curriculum is designed to build students’ mathematical knowledge as part of our moral purpose: to equip students with the knowledge and skills that open up as many doors as possible for them.

We believe that:

• A high-quality mathematical education opens doors for our students and helps them to flourish in life, learning and work
• All students can learn a mathematical curriculum and progress in mathematics
• Gaps in mathematical knowledge can increase the impact of social disadvantage
• All students should be encouraged to identify with the work of mathematicians

All of our students should have access to this curriculum, which will allow them to, if they wish, join “the great conversations” (Oakeshott, 1962). It is this choice that is important, the opportunity to.

2. What is the 'big picture' in Mathematics?

The ‘big picture’ outlines how the Big Ideas and areas of knowledge of each subject fit together:

The Big Ideas of Mathematics are:

• Ratio and proportion
• Geometry
• Probability
• Statistics

There are four key areas of knowledge which are necessary to become a subject expert in Mathematics:

1. Conceptual understanding: That our students build declarative knowledge (knowing that) e.g. facts, formulae, concepts and rules (knowing that Pythagoras’ Theorem is a2+b2=h2)
2. Procedural fluency:  That our students build procedural knowledge (knowing how to) 
3. Disciplinary knowledge: that our students build the habits of mathematical working, in particular problem-solving so that they can apply this knowledge in different conditions:

• In a variety of scenarios (knowing how to apply Pythagoras’ Theorem when disguised in other shapes), or;
• Using a range of mathematical knowledge to solve one problem (knowing how to combine Pythagoras’ Theorem with algebraic expressions to solve a problem)

4. Language: that our students gain fluency in the language of numbers, and in particular algebra

3. What does knowledge look like in Mathematics ?

4. What do we teach and when?