Intent Statement

At King James I Academy, the Mathematics department’s intent is for the curriculum to be designed to ensure that students acquire a deep, long-term, secure, and flexible understanding of the subject. The curriculum will:  

• Develop students’ ability to reason mathematically  

• Enable students to become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics through frequent and varied practice with increasingly complex problems over time such that they will develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply their knowledge speedily and accurately  

• Allow students to solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including reducing problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions whilst appreciating various methods may be applicable  

• Help students to develop an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics and have a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject  

• Enable students to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, testing hypotheses, and developing an argument, justification or proof using appropriate mathematical language 

Department Information

What types of skills do employers look for? Problem Solving, Statistical Analysis, Proportional Reasoning, and good Communication Skills, to name just a few. These transferable skills are useful in any job, and you can get all of them from studying Maths.

Students at King James I Academy are taught in ability groupings, which allows us to tailor their learning experience to their current stage of mathematical development. Following each assessment period the classes are reviewed and amended as needed in order to challenge and support our students in a way that will best suits their needs.

Our curriculum is designed to build upon prior learning established at primary school, to support their progression in becoming mathematically fluent, and to further their ability to reason logically and solve problems in a wide range of situations. Some of more able students are invited to take part in the United Kingdom Mathematical Trust’s individual and team challenges, attend Christmas Lectures at local universities, and compete in regional Maths competitions.

Key Stage 5

AQA AS Mathematics (students with GCSE Grade 7 or higher)

Paper 1: Pure Maths and Mechanics                                       50% of final grade

Paper 2: Pure Maths and Statistics                                          50% of final grade

AS exams are taken in the summer series of Year 12. If students achieve a C or higher, they then continue on to the full A-level in Mathematics in Year 13. Both exams last 1h30 and are calculator papers

AQA A-level Mathematics (students with AS Maths Grade C or higher)

Paper 1: Pure Maths                                                                  1/3 of final grade

Paper 2: Pure Maths and Mechanics                                       1/3 of final grade

Paper 3: Pure Maths and Statistics                                          1/3 of final grade

A-level exams are taken in the summer series of Year 13. All exams are calculator papers and last 2 hours.

AQA Level 3 Certificate in Mathematical Studies (Core Maths) (students with GCSE Grades 4 or higher)

Paper 1: Personal Finance and Statistics                                 50% of final grade

Paper 2A: Statistical Techniques                                               50% of final grade

This course will finish following the exams in the summer series of Year 12.  This course can be picked up by students in Year 13 and completed within the academic year. Both exams last 1h30 and are calculator papers.

Edexcel AS Further Mathematics - Route K (students with GCSE Grade 8 or higher) 

Paper 1: Core Pure Maths                       50% of the final grade 

Paper 2: Decision Maths 1 and 2            50% of the final grade 

Both exams last 1h40 and are calculator papers.? A-level Further Maths will be offered dependent on results of Grade C or higher on AS Further Maths. 

Edexcel A-level Further Mathematics - Route K (students with AS Further Maths Grade C or higher) 

Paper 1: Core Pure Maths 1            25% of the final grade 

Paper 2: Core Pure Maths 2           25% of the final grade 

Paper 3: Decision 1 Maths              25% of the final grade 

Paper 4: Decision 2 Maths              25% of the final grade 

All exams last 1h30 and are calculator papers.  

More able KS5 Maths students take part in the UKMT’s Senior Individual and Team Challenges in the Autumn term of each academic year. 

Year 12

AS Maths students will extend their understanding of coordinate Geometry, Algebra, and Statistics alongside learning new topics including Calculus, Exponentials and Logarithms, and Mechanics. Core Maths students will learn about Taxation, Loans and Repayments, Critical Analysis and more as well as building upon their previous Stats work completed in Key Stage 4.  AS Further Maths students will undertake work on numerous new topics including Matrices, Complex Numbers, Polar Coordinates, Discrete Mathematics, Algorithms, and Statistical Distributions.

All students will need to be fully competent in the use of a scientific calculator; AS Further Maths students must also be able to use graphical calculators to further aid their studies.

(Recommended model: Casio FX – 991EX)

Year 13

The work completed by KS5 students in Year 13 will further develop concepts taught in Year 12.  Integration and Trigonometry alongside the deepening of problem solving and reasoning skills become even more important in the successful completion of A-level Mathematics.

Learning Journeys

A Level Maths

A Level Maths

Core Maths