Mathematics
Mathematics Curriculum (Secondary)
Subject Leader: Ruth Hill Email: ruth.hill@northstar-academy.co.uk
At North Star 180, our Mathematics curriculum for secondary SEMH pupils is designed to meet the needs of all learners. Learning is carefully planned to be inclusive, accessible, and meaningful, supporting pupils to develop knowledge, skills, and understanding that are relevant to their lives. Through a well-sequenced and personalised approach, pupils are supported to make progress from their individual starting points, building confidence, resilience, independence, and readiness for future learning and adulthood.
Intent
The intent of the Mathematics curriculum in secondary is to:
- Develop secure number fluency, mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills, while enabling pupils to make connections between mathematical ideas.
- Provide a shared mathematical journey, with layered pathways enabling pupils to access the same concepts at different levels of complexity and abstraction according to their individual starting points.
- Develop the mathematical literacy and independence pupils need for everyday life, further education and adulthood, including the confidence to interpret numerical information and make informed decisions.
- Prepare pupils for appropriate qualifications and future pathways, including Entry Level, Functional Skills and GCSE Mathematics, with opportunities for progression to Higher GCSE content.
The curriculum is ambitious and inclusive, ensuring all pupils can achieve and succeed regardless of need. Learning is adapted to address gaps in prior knowledge without limiting access to age-appropriate mathematical thinking and challenge
Implementation
The Mathematics curriculum in secondary is implemented through:
- A carefully sequenced curriculum in which key mathematical concepts are revisited and developed, gradually increasing abstraction, reasoning and independence across KS3 and KS4.
- Explicit modelling, guided practice and independent application, with mathematical vocabulary taught and revisited to support pupils with SEND and literacy needs.
- Real-life contexts and regular Number Sense activities connect mathematics to local, national and global facts, statistics and everyday experiences, developing curiosity and critical mathematical literacy
- Retrieval practice, interleaving, cold and hot tasks and standardised assessments to identify misconceptions, monitor progress and inform teaching and intervention.
- Adaptation, scaffolding and layered levels of challenge, enabling pupils with different starting points to access shared mathematical concepts while providing appropriate support and stretch.
Staff use a range of strategies and resources to ensure learning is engaging, accessible and personalised. Teaching develops confidence and fluency while encouraging pupils to explain methods, justify reasoning, make connections and apply mathematics independently.
Impact
The impact of the Mathematics curriculum is demonstrated by:
- Pupils making progress from their individual starting points, developing increasingly secure mathematical knowledge, fluency and reasoning.
- Increased confidence, resilience and independence, including the ability to select appropriate strategies, explain mathematical thinking and apply learning in unfamiliar contexts.
- Pupils developing functional mathematical literacy for everyday life, including using number, data, measures and financial mathematics to solve problems and make informed decisions.
- Achievement of appropriate outcomes in Entry Level, Functional Skills and GCSE Mathematics, preparing pupils for further education, employment and adult life.
Mathematics promotes both SMSC and British Values.
SMSC
Spiritual | Mathematics encourages curiosity and a sense of wonder through patterns, relationships and unexpected results. Problem solving allows students to explore ideas, make conjectures and discover different ways of reaching a solution. Regular Number Sense activities use surprising facts and figures to encourage curiosity about mathematics and the wider world. |
Moral | Students develop critical mathematical literacy by questioning numerical and statistical claims and considering whether information has been presented fairly or misleadingly. Real-world examples are used to challenge misinformation and stereotypes, while topics such as finance, probability and risk encourage students to consider consequences and make informed decisions. |
Social | Students develop communication and collaboration through explaining methods, comparing approaches and solving problems together. Mathematics is connected to students’ own communities through Number Sense activities using local data, such as population growth in Paulton, helping students understand how mathematics can describe changes in the world around them. |
Cultural | Students develop communication and collaboration through explaining methods, comparing approaches and solving problems together. Mathematics is connected to students’ own communities through Number Sense activities using local data, such as population growth in Paulton, helping students understand how mathematics can describe changes in the world around them. |
British Values:
Democracy | Students are encouraged to contribute ideas, explain their reasoning and listen respectfully to different approaches. Work with statistics can include voting, polling, sampling and representation. This helps students understand how data can inform democratic decisions and influence public opinion. |
Rule of Law | Mathematics teaches students the importance of agreed rules and conventions being applied consistently and fairly. Real-life contexts such as wages, taxation, interest and financial transactions help students understand how mathematical rules operate within wider society. |
Individual Liberty | Students are encouraged to think independently, select appropriate mathematical strategies and justify their choices. Financial, numerical and statistical literacy help students interpret information and make informed choices in everyday and adult life. |
Mutual Respect | Students learn that mathematical problems can often be approached in different ways and are encouraged to listen to and value the reasoning of others. Discussion, collaborative problem solving and Number Sense activities promote respectful challenge, particularly when considering statistics that may be used to support stereotypes or assumptions. |
Tolerance | Students encounter mathematics as a global discipline with contributions from different cultures and societies. Real-world facts and statistics are used to explore diversity and representation and, where appropriate, challenge prejudicial interpretations: for example, examining what data about the popularity of the name Muhammad actually shows rather than accepting misleading assumptions. |
