Home > Our School > Curriculum > Mathematics

Mathematics

Learning Journey Click here

73% of Penair students achieved Grade 4 or above in Mathematics (3 Year Average 2019, 2022 & 2023) compared to a national average of 72%

Maths is a core subject which supports learning in a number of other subject areas, including Engineering, Science, Geography and ICT. The study of Maths also helps to develop life skills, such as confidence in handling data and numbers, as well as logical, statistical and analytical techniques.

Our students at Penair will have a variety of different teachers throughout their time here and are taught to problem solve and be resilient. We understand that not all students feel Maths is for them but we believe that everyone can learn to enjoy it. We provide support and encouragement to enable students to make the best progress they can and we strongly believe in our curriculum structure which can be found below.

Maths Curriculum Overview Link  

Intent

Spiral Curriculum

Development fluency and problem solving

Promote love, curiosity and resilience in mathematics

Implementation

In KS3 pupils are taught in extension and core groups and all students in each year are taught the same topic at the same time. This allows us the greatest flexibility in moving students between groups to ensure they are being taught at the right pace for them. Students are put into sets at KS4 although these are quite flexible and we make group changes regularly.

We offer some students the opportunity to take another qualification in Further Maths and this is highly valued by our pupils who find this challenging and helps prepare them for next steps.

Pupils at KS3 are regularly assessed using mini block assessments so we are able to measure the progress they are making. Students also sit a written test at the end of each half term. In KS4 we use a variety of exam papers, questions and mini tests in order to assess in order to ensure they are entered at the right tier.

We very much encourage independent learning and have recently launched a new Sparx Maths homework package which will help our students build resilience and help them to know how to learn independently in Maths. Sparx Maths link here

Impact

Penair students have consistently performed well in Maths and the progress made at KS3 gives our students the opportunity to sit GCSE with solid foundations. We perform well in the UKMT Maths challenge and we are very proud of the number of our students who go onto study a STEM subject in further education.