Mathematics
Department Staffing & Roles
- Mrs E Peers (Head of Mathematics)
- Mr M Molloy (Director of Data)
- Miss L Arrowsmith (Classroom Teacher Mathematics)
- Mr W Chand (Classroom Teacher Mathematics)
- Mrs C Cowen (Classroom Teacher Mathematics)
- Miss C Daley (Classroom Teacher Mathematics)
- Mrs Y Guy (KS3 Leader of Maths)
- Mrs A Doran (Classroom Teacher Mathematics – Maternity Leave)
- Miss P Powell (Classroom Teacher Mathematics/Assistant SENDCO)
- Mr M Devonald (Classroom Teacher Mathematics, PE & Science – Maternity Cover)
- Miss K Tipton (Classroom Teacher Mathematics – Maternity Cover)
The mathematics curriculum at Ormiston Chadwick Academy aims to provide a curriculum that is designed to assess and build on prior knowledge to equip pupils mathematically for the future.
Whether you want to design the world’s largest roller coaster, train the best athletes or own your own business. Whether you want to develop problem-solving skills, know how to choose the best deal or understand how to budget, mathematics at Ormiston Chadwick Academy will equip you with the skills necessary to allow you to apply in whatever situation arises.
KS3 Intent
In Year 7 – 9, the scheme focuses on deeper understanding for learners. The curriculum is designed to build upon prior knowledge, revisiting topics in greater depth each year, gradually increasing in difficulty allowing students to secure their knowledge whilst building a deeper understanding. We want students at KS3 to build their confidence with the areas of mathematics that will help them to transition into their GCSE years at KS4, as well as developing a love of mathematics.
KS4
Students study the Edexcel GCSE course, beginning in Year 10 and continuing into Year 11. There are two tiers, Foundation (Grade 1 – Grade 5) and Higher (Grade 3 – Grade 9). Students will cover the content as detailed in the Edexcel Scheme of Work and will experience topic areas under the subject content headings of:
- Number
- Algebra
- Ratio, proportion and rates of change
- Geometry and measures
- Probability and statistics
Once students have completed the course, their class will follow a bespoke scheme of learning, based on their fortnightly exams, to address their individual needs to prepare for their GCSE exams in the summer term.
https://qualifications.pearson.com/
During KS4, we want to equip students with the necessary knowledge and support to achieve outstanding GCSE results as well as preparing them to continue their mathematics education as they move to college and beyond.
Year 7
Year 8
Year 9
Year 10
Year 11
At OCA, we strongly believe that careers education is a vital aspect of our curriculum. In maths, we aim to broaden our pupils’ idea of the opportunities available to them post-16. In order to do this, we include careers links in each lesson; through discussions and tasks showing how different careers use mathematics.
We are currently in contact with employers/companies to provide some exciting opportunities for students to experience how mathematics links to different jobs & careers.
Further Education Opportunities
Locally, we have excellent post-16 provisions for studying mathematics at A-Level and beyond. Below are some links for further study options for mathematics:
- Cronton College – A Level Mathematics
- Cronton College – A Level Further Mathematics
- Carmel College – A Level Mathematics
- Carmel College – A Level Further Mathematics
In order to prepare for A level mathematics, HegartyMaths has produced a list of tasks that students’ should work through to best prepare themselves for the demands of A-level mathematics along with some lessons.
Preparing for A-Level HegartyMaths Course
An Introduction to A Level Maths Lessons with HegartyMaths (Video Playlist)
Maths Drop In Club
At OCA, we are subscribing to Sparx Maths – an online learning resource that sets students recall tasks each week to complete in order to consolidate their understanding of topics they have studied in class. We offer informal drop-in support for students who may need homework help or if they have any questions about any aspect of their class work on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
Further Maths
‘Further Maths’ each Monday will be an opportunity for high achieving Year 11s to delve deeper into the world of mathematics. This enrichment activity will teach the AQA Level 2 Further Maths course with the end goal of an additional GCSE qualification. Students that have a passion for mathematics and an aspiration to continue their mathematical studies after leaving OCA will get a taster of higher-level mathematics with links to A-Level maths and further maths within these sessions.
Chess Club
Chess club takes place every Wednesday for students who are interested in learning how to play chess or wanting a place to compete against other chess enthusiasts.
Year 11 Intervention
Year 11 follow a whole school enrichment timetable, however we also offer sessions after school on Monday/Friday 3 – 4pm with our Year 11 staff. All students are welcome to attend.
“The best way to learn maths is to do maths!”
There are many revision websites that can be used to revise for mathematics, complete with examples, questions and answers to aid revision at home.
(Click on the titles for each section for a direct link).
Sparks Maths
Students should be familiar with this already. Hundreds of hours of video examples and questions on almost every maths topic you can think of. All pupils at OCA have access to this resource – If you can’t remember your username or password email your class teacher to reset it for you.
Students should be familiar with this already. Hundreds of hours of video examples and questions on almost every maths topic you can think of. All pupils at OCA have access to this resource – If you can’t remember your username or password email your class teacher to reset it for you.
BBC Bitesize
Exam board content from BBC Bitesize for students in England, Northern Ireland or Wales. At OCA we are with the exam board ‘Edexcel’
Superstar Maths
A growing collection of instructional maths videos on Youtube, created by the Head of Department at OCA.
GCSE Revision videos, exam style questions and solutions split into topic and grade.
CorbettMaths: 5-a-day
A collection of questions & answers updated daily! 5 questions a day split into 5 different difficulty levels. Could be perfect if you’re aiming for 15 minutes of maths revision daily.
CorbettMaths: Videos & Worksheets
GCSE Revision videos, exam style questions and solutions split into topics.
Mathsbot: Differentiated Questions
Generates a set of differentiated questions on your chosen topic. Answers can be revealed individually by clicking on the tiles or by using the ‘Show Answers’ button.
Mathsbot: GCSE Revision Grid
This is amazing! Generates the longer form, wordy GCSE Questions, which you can filter by topic or go for a random selection. You can ever choose your tier (Foundation or Higher) and whether you want calculator or non-calculator questions.
Mathsbot: GCSE Practice Papers
At the risk of repeating myself, this too is amazing. You can generate GCSE practice papers of any length you want, with questions from any given subject area, and the answers are included.
Mathsbot: Quick Question Generator
Choose the topic, choose the time limit, choose the number of questions, the difficulty, pretty much anything you want. It is a race against the clock!
Mathsbot: Topic Ladder
A set of interactive questions designed to be answered by you on a tablet or computer. Each topic ladder can be easily differentiated to suit your own needs.
Maths Made Easy Topic Revision
An excellent collection of resources split by topic, level and tier. Includes videos, worksheets, mock tests and interactive answers.
Save My Exams GCSE Topics
A large collection of questions for every GCSE topic you can think of. Works really well when revising a topic you have recently learnt in class.
AceYourExams on Tiktok
Benthetutor on TikTok
Quick Maths Tips on Tiktok
Mathically Tutors on Tiktok
Each of these accounts are full of topic examples and walk-throughs of maths GCSE exam papers (remember, we are with Edexcel). They sometimes have some alternative ways of approaching certain topics that you may prefer.
Revision Guides
If your child would like to purchase revision guides/workbooks/flash cards,
we have a limited number in school that can be purchased at a reduced price.
- GCSE Essentials Bundle: Edexcel Maths – £10
Includes- GCSE Maths Edexcel Revision Guide
- GCSE Maths Edexcel Exam Practice Workbook
- GCSE Maths Edexcel 10-Minute Tests
- GCSE Maths Edexcel Revision Question Cards
If you decide to purchase your own revision guides, ensure that they cover the Edexcel Specification which is the exam board we are currently studying.
Calculator
We recommend that your child gets their own scientific calculator.
The Casio fx-83GTX/fx-85GTX can be purchased from most supermarkets.
This will enable them to feel more confident when using a calculator and be familiar with their particular model, as different models will vary.
As two of the three maths GCSE papers are calculator based, this is more important than ever.
Challenge
For any students wishing to deepen their understanding/tackle more problem solving/investigation problems, Nrich Maths has some challenging problems to try at home.
MathOlympics
We take part in a trust wide competition in mathematics. Pupil must apply what they know to abstract problems while also having to complete a presentation to a panel. All of these skills are assessed in a competition format and last year the team got to the final and came a close second.
UKMT Maths Challenge
We run the UKMT intermediate maths challenge which challenges pupils to problem solve and build resilience. The top performing pupils are then able to move onto future rounds and even international competition.
