Skip to content ↓
Southfields Academy

Southfields Academy

Mathematics

Teacher contact details 

Key Stage 3 

Years 7, 8 & 9

Contact Teacher

Ms N Frost (Y7&8 mathematics coordinator) Nicola.frost@southfieldsacademy.com

Ms N Ahmad (Y9&10 mathematics coordinator) Nasra.ahmad@southfieldsacademy.com

Mr A Spencer (Head of Mathematics) alexander.spencer@southfieldsacademy.com

Grouping/organisation/setting/teaching time

At Southfields Academy we have adopted the national Teaching for Mastery programme at Key Stage 3 and have become one of the lead schools in the borough for this programme.  Students are taught in a mastery style, which involves spending more time on topics by developing a deeper, conceptual understanding.  Lessons are jointly planned by both the Years 7, 8 and 9 teaching teams, which results in students benefiting from the skills and knowledge of a vast range of experienced and innovative teachers.  This also ensures that the students are all receiving the same, consistent teaching.  Challenge for the more able is a major focus of the planning meetings so that every student comes out of a maths lesson feeling they have learned something new and have been stretched by the tasks in the lesson.

Course Content/Skills Learnt

The units covered during Years 7, 8 and 9 are:

Year 7 Programme of Study

  • Year 7 Autumn 1: Directed number and algebra
  • Year 7 Autumn 2: Algebra and number reasoning
  • Year 7 Spring 1: 2D shapes
  • Year 7 Spring 2: Fractions
  • Year 7 Summer 1: Angles
  • Year 7 Summer 2: Data handling

Year 8 Programme of Study

  • Year 8 Autumn 1: Further algebra, solving
  • Year 8 Autumn 2: Ratio
  • Year 8 Spring 1: 2D and 3D shapes
  • Year 8 Spring 2: Percentages
  • Year 8 Summer 1: Probability
  • Year 8 Summer 2: Revision and end of Year 8 assessments

Year 9 Programme of Study - Foundation Tier GCSE

  • Year 9 Foundation Autumn 1: Place Value and estimation, powers and roots, indices, HCF, LCM and standard form
  • Year 9 Foundation Autumn 2: Expressions, substitution and formulae
  • Year 9 Foundation Spring 1: Interpreting and representing data
  • Year 9 Foundation Spring 2: Fractions, decimals and percentages
  • Year 9 Foundation Summer 1: Angles
  • Year 9 Foundation Summer 2: Equations, inequalities and sequences

Year 9 Programme of Study - Higher Tier GCSE

  • Year 9 Higher Autumn 1: Place Value and estimation, powers and roots, indices, surds, HCF, LCM and standard form
  • Year 9 Higher Autumn 2: Expressions, equations, substitution and formulae
  • Year 9 Higher Spring 1: Interpreting and representing data
  • Year 9 Higher Spring 2: Fractions, decimals and percentages
  • Year 9 Higher Summer 1: Angles, Pythagoras' Theorem and Trigonometry
  • Year 9 Higher Summer 2: Sequences and graphs

The Year 9 curriculum at Southfields Academy builds the key skills required for GCSE.  Students study many topics for the first time and develop skills that build to a greater degree in Years 10 and 11.  In Year 9, students work on a project towards the end of each term, which connects mathematics to the real world.  Research homeworks are set a few weeks in advance so that students may research key information related to the project.  A few examples include calculating how many heartbeats you've had by your 14th birthday and working out whether the school can collect enough rain water to flush all the toilets in the school!  These projects encourage learners to think creatively, work logically, communicate ideas, synthesise their results, analyse different viewpoints, look for commonalities and evaluate findings.

Assessment

Students are assessed very half-term, mostly on that half-term's content.  As they progress through the year, the assessments will become more synoptic and will test all the content covered in the year to date.  These synoptic tests are designed to enhance the students' revision skills and encourage them to recall previously learned material on a more regular basis.  At the end of Year 7 and Year 9, students are assessed completely synoptically.

Books/other materials/useful websites to visit/field trips etc.:

As we are jointly planning the mastery-style lessons and creating our own resources to stretch and challenge the students, we don't tend to rely too heavily on textbooks at Key Stage 3.

We subscribe top HegartyMaths (www.hegartymaths.com) for the whole school.  This is an amazing resource for students to use at home for extra practice material, stretch themselves further or catch up on any work missed.  There are videos on the site for every topic imaginable in secondary mathematics.  Every student has a separate HegartyMaths exercise book, and we encourage them to make use of these to create their own revision guides.

Homework:

We set homework at least once a week, and we contact parents to inform them if any homework is missed.  Homework is sometimes set online on the HegartyMaths platform.  Students have plenty of access to computers in school if there are any problems accessing the site from home.

How parents can help

As a parent you are the most important ally we have in terms of supporting and encouraging the students.  Working together we can provide the best environment for them to achieve their full potential.  Our expectations are that homework should be completed on time and behaviour should be appropriate for the classroom to ensure a positive working atmosphere for all.  As a parent you can help make sure these goals are achieved.

Key Stage 4
 

Years 10 & 11

Contact Teacher

Ms N Ahmad (Y9&10 mathematics coordinator) Nasra.ahmad@southfieldsacademy.com

Mr A Spencer (Head of Mathematics) alexander.spencer@southfieldsacademy.com

WHAT AND HOW WILL YOU LEARN?

Since the GCSE exams have changed to the new 9-1 grading system, we have entered our students for exams through the OCR exam board.  They have developed an inspiring, motivating and coherent mathematics specification for the entire ability range.  It emphasises and encourages:

  • Sound understanding of concepts
  • Fluency in procedural skill
  • Competency to apply mathematical skills in a range of contexts
  • Confidence in mathematical problem solving

HOW WILL YOU BE ASSESSED?

There are three papers in the new GCSE exams, which are all equally weighted.

  • Paper 1 (one-third of the GCSE) - calculator
  • Paper 2 (one-third of the GCSE) - non-calculator
  • Paper 3 (one-third of the GCSE) - calculator

This course will be assessed at the end of Year 11 by these three examinations.  Students will be assessed at regular intervals throughout Years 10 and 11.

Linked here is the full OCR maths GCSE specification

https://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/168982-specification-gcse-mathematics.pdf

WHAT NEXT?

Mathematics is a language.  It is the language without which science, commerce, industry, the internet, and the entire global economy is struck dumb.  It is the only truly universal language, and it is an essential part of our personal and working life.

As such, the GCSE qualification is recognised by both Universities and employers, as a way of checking students have the numeracy skills needed to equip themselves for everyday life and further study.

Those students who achieve a grade 6 or higher on the higher paper have the opportunity to continue the study of mathematics through the A-level courses. Students that achieve a grade 4 or higher on either tier have the opportunity to continue to study mathematics through the new Level 2 Certificate in Core Mathematics.

GCSE Statistics

At the end of KS3 students can choose GCSE Statistics as an option. This subject works very well alongside their normal maths studies, and it leads nicely into potentially doing A-Level Mathematics.

Students study:

Collecting, representing and summarising data.

Probability and probability distributions.

Many statistical models that help predict the future.

See the link below for the full Edexcel GCSE statistics specification:

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/Statistics/2017/specification-and-sample-assessments/gcse-9-1-statistics-specification.pdf

GCSE Further Mathematics (Level 2 certificate -  Further Mathematics)

Students who are excelling in their maths studies in Year 11 may be offered the chance to study for the Level 2 Certificate in Further Mathematics. This is an additional qualification and acts as a perfect bridge from GCSE Mathematics to A-level Mathematics.

See the link below for the full AQA Level 2 Certificate in Mathematics specification:

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/mathematics/aqa-certificate/further-mathematics-8365/specification-at-a-glance

Enrichment and extra-curricular activities

To help promote a love of problem-solving - students are entered for the UKMT Intermediate Mathematical Challenge.  Past papers and more information can be found here: https://www.ukmt.org.uk/imc

 

 

Students are also encouraged to attend Southfields Academy Chess Club - a weekly club run by Mr Spencer.

Key Stage 5 

Contact Teacher

Mr E Boyd (KS5 mathematics coordinator) Edmund.boyd@southfieldsacademy.com        

Mr A Spencer (Head of Mathematics) alexander.spencer@southfieldsacademy.com

Welcome to Key Stage 5 Mathematics at Southfields Academy

We offer five different courses for students of all levels of attainment.

  1. For those mathematicians who excelled at GCSE (Grade 6 or above) we offer A Level Mathematics.
  2. And A Level Further Mathematics.
  3. For students who have passed GCSE Mathematics (Grade 4 or above) but don't want to study A Level Mathematics - we offer Level 3 Mathematics Studies, this is commonly known as "Core Mathematics".  This is equivalent to half an A Level and is studied alongside three other subjects.
  4. For students who didn't pass GCSE Mathematics (Grade 3 or below) we offer GCSE Mature Mathematics.  These students retake their GCSE Mathematics and consistently pass with success rates above the national average.
  5. And for those students who can't access the GCSE content we offer the Edexcel Number & Measure Award so that these students can leave the Academy with increased numeracy and mathematical life skills.

Amazing results over many years

Our A Level Mathematics results are consistently among the best in the Wandsworth Borough.  Please contact Mr Spencer if you would like more detail.

Cambridge University and Southfields Academy Mathematics Partnership

We have a fantastic link with Cambridge University where each year we take Year 12 Mathematics students to visit and experience Mathematics lectures at Cambridge.  In addition, we have Cambridge University professors visit Southfields to amaze and bewilder our young mathematicians.

 

Extra-curricular activities:

To promote a love of problem-solving - our KS5 mathematicians enter the UKMT Senior Mathematics Challenge.

 

Year 12 and 13 Mathematics students also form part of our chess club and recently took part in a London tournament at nearby Wilson's School.  Please see Mr Spencer for more details about Southfields Academy Chess Club.

 

Key Stage 5 Specifications links:

Edexcel A Level Mathematics

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/A%20Level/Mathematics/2017/specification-and-sample-assesment/a-level-l3-mathematics-specification-issue4.pdf

Edexcel A-Level Further Mathematics

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/A%20Level/Mathematics/2017/specification-and-sample-assesment/a-level-l3-further-mathematics-specification.pdf

AQA Level 3 Mathematical Studies

https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/mathematics/aqa-certificate/mathematical-studies-1350/specification-at-a-glance

OCR GCSE Mathematics

https://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/gcse/mathematics-j560-from-2015/specification-at-a-glance/

Edexcel Number & Measure Award

https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/qualifications/edexcel-awards-in-mathematics/number-and-measure.html