Maths, Business & Economics

Maths

All pupils at Alderman White School will have the opportunity to succeed in Maths. We believe learning should be enjoyable and we aim to foster a supportive and inclusive environment for students to make progress. We see Maths as a collaborative subject, and nourish confidence through celebrating effort and contribution as well as attainment. We use mini-whiteboards regularly, to reduce the fear of making mistakes and encourage a culture of collective responsibility, self-regulation and reflection. We have also developed a comprehensive IT-based curriculum to support remote learning and revision.

Effective dialogue, discussion and high-quality questioning & oracy are at the heart of our approach to teaching & learning. We aim to make learning fun through use of practical activities and games, and we have a common-sense philosophy to assessment and feedback.

Students are taught Maths in mixed ability groups for KS3 and then set for GCSE in Year 10. Outcomes in Maths are excellent and consistently exceed national averages. We have many students with outstanding academic achievement who are given opportunities to showcase their talents in the UKMT Maths Challenge and who also have the opportunity to study the L2 Further Maths qualification in Year 11. Intervention is offered to GCSE students requiring additional support.

Equipment

Pupils are expected to bring a blue/black and green pen, a pencil, a ruler, a protractor and a calculator to every lesson, along with their exercise book and fully charged device. (Calculators can be purchased via ParentPay)

Implementation

Pupils are taught topics in two-week blocks with a deep focus on relevant skills and their applications. Links are made to other topics in problem-solving tasks and significant consideration is given to interleaving skills to ensure long-term retention. This is supported with our homework structure: One piece of homework per fortnight will be set on a topic from approximately three weeks prior. Each topic is assessed with a brief post-test that is target-tackled by the students to highlight particular skills that require further practise. Students monitor their own progress by completing the grids on the front cover of their exercise books. Pupils also sit a more comprehensive termly assessment that is more representative of a GCSE examination, to help prepare students for meeting GCSE assessment objectives of recall, reasoning and problem solving, as well as assessing long-term retention. This also serves to develop resilience and good practices such as effective revision and exam technique. At KS3, these assessments will be graded using bands which indicate an estimated GCSE grade as follows: Emerging: GCSE grades 1-2, Developing: GCSE grades 3-4, Secure: GCSE grades 5-6, Mastery: GCSE grades 7-9. At GCSE, these termly assessments will take the form of past GCSE examinations and will inform pupils’ Current grade. We then use historic internal progress data from similar starting points to provide pupils with Predicted GCSE grades. Understanding this methodology is helpful for pupils and parents to contextualise progress and performance and to inform actions that may be required to achieve Target grades.

Useful Documents & Links

Below you will find a copy of our Scheme of Learning for all year groups.
All schemes of learning detailed below are available on Google Classroom, and have also been built for pupil use on Dr Frost.

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AQA Maths GCSE: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/mathematics/gcse/mathematics-8300
L2 Further Maths: https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/mathematics/aqa-certificate/further-mathematics-8365

Additional Resources

We offer a range of revision guides to support students working at all levels that can be purchased via MCAS. (Please speak to your class teacher if you are unsure which is most suitable.)

We also encourage the use of several online resources:

Google Classroom: https://classroom.google.com
Dr Frost Maths: https://www.drfrostmaths.com
CorbettMaths: https://corbettmaths.com/contents

Business Studies

We have a well-established Business Studies curriculum that has been developed over the recent years and is becoming increasingly popular with pupils opting to study the subject at GCSE. This is due to how relevant the qualification is to young people considering their options for careers in a fast-changing world and the opportunities that this provides. The course fosters essential transferable skills valued by employers, including communication, analytical skills, critical thinking and decision-making.

The Edexcel course offers pupils opportunities to engage in relatable discussions regarding entrepreneurship and enterprise and to think creatively about decision making. Real-life case studies and opportunities for creative thinking, as well as use of interactive IT resources make Business Studies an engaging subject.

Business Studies is overseen by the Head of Mathematics and cross-curricular links are embedded through consistent practice related to numeracy and calculations that are required throughout the course in the context of data and finance.

We make use of several resources that can be used by pupils to support their learning including:

Dr Frost Maths for numeracy and calculations

https://www.drfrost.org

BBC Bitesize to cover course content in an engaging format

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/examspecs/z98snbk

Seneca for content understanding and retrieval practise

https://senecalearning.com/en-GB/

Tutor2U for topic tests, case studies and exam technique support

https://www.tutor2u.net/students/gcse/edexcel-gcse-business

Edexcel website for course specification, content, retrieval quizzes, past exam papers

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-gcses/business-2017.html

All course information can be found in the specification:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/Business/2017/specification-and-sample-assessments/gcse-business-spec-2017.pdf

Economics:

Economics is a more recent part of our provision, building on the success and popularity of the Business Studies course, with the first year for GCSE examination in 2028. It offers a broader view of the impact of businesses in the UK and across the world and pupils have further opportunities to relate learning to real-life events.

Politics and global current affairs form a backdrop to the context of the course and content is broken down into a digestible format to engage pupils. There is a continued application of Mathematics, embedding further cross-curricular links through further use of formulas and a greater appreciation for the application and analysis of data representation including graphs.

Pupils also develop analytical skills by evaluating economic arguments and distinguishing between fact and opinion, as well as critical thinking when assessing the moral, ethical, and sustainability issues resulting from economic activity.

The OCR Economics GCSE is a qualification that requires less lengthy written answers and has more focus on insight through the lens of data analysis toward the impacts and implications of world events, politics and commerce on economies, both small (micro) and large (macro). This provides pupils with a choice of disciplines so that they are able to cater to their strengths.

We make use of several resources that can be used by pupils to support their learning including: