Maths

Curriculum Intent

At The Eastbourne Academy (TEA), we believe that mathematics is a fundamental subject that empowers individuals and shapes our world. Our inclusive Maths curriculum is strategically designed to unlock the potential of every student, fostering a love of learning and a resilient growth mindset. Through rigorous practice, conceptual problem-solving, and relevant real-world applications, we equip students with the essential skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in their future academic and professional pathways. 

Our exceptional teachers inspire and challenge students, creating a supportive and intellectually stimulating learning environment. We prioritise the sequential development of critical thinking, abstract problem-solving, and logical reasoning skills. By deconstructing complex concepts into manageable, simpler steps, we ensure that all students, regardless of their prior attainment, can achieve their full potential, particularly aiming for the crucial Grade 4 threshold and beyond. 

The curriculum is underpinned by high-quality, subject-specific professional development, enabling our teachers to deliver highly engaging and effective lessons informed by current pedagogical research. We continuously strive to improve our teaching practices, incorporating innovative strategies and echnologies to enhance the learning experience. By fostering a culture of curiosity and mathematical exploration, we inspire students to become confident, independent mathematicians. Thinking like a mathematician is essential to everyday life, critical to science and technology, and necessary for financial literacy and most employment. It provides a foundation for understanding the world, appreciation for its beauty and power, and curiosity about the subject's structure and application.

Curriculum Implementation

We recognise that our curriculum goes beyond what happens in the classroom, and is a broad term that encompasses our wider offer. 

Our Knowledge Curriculum: Ambition in the Classrooms 

Our Maths curriculum at TEA is focused on cultivating a growth mindset, stressing that strong mathematical skills are developed through consistent, deliberate effort and practice. We encourage students to view challenges as opportunities for deep learning, embracing mistakes as valuable eedback to enable sustained progress. 

Our inclusive teaching strategies purposefully orchestrate the movement from teacher-led guidance to independent learners. We utilise the visualiser and whiteboards for precise live modelling of new skills, recall techniques, and complex problems, applying the structured three-stage approach: 

I do: The teacher clearly demonstrates the full procedure or concept, explicitly modelling every step and the associated thought process. 

We do Students work alongside the teacher, practicing the steps together, which allows for immediate, in-the-moment feedback and correction before misconceptions become learnt. 

You do: Students then transition to independent practice, applying the learned skills to new, non-routine problems. This structured sequence ensures a supported and effective movement toward independent mastery.

We also use frequent diagnostic questions embedded within lessons to inform our classroom practice. This serves as an in-the-moment assessment for learning tool, allowing us to adapt and address misconceptions immediately. 

To ensure long-term knowledge retention to support all learners, key concepts including Proportional Reasoning and Algebraic Manipulation are constantly revisited and developed with increasing complexity across all Key Stages. We use a 4-grid retrieval 'Do It Now' at the start of every lesson to solidify prior learning and activate necessary knowledge. 

A core component of our strategy is the systematic use of low-stakes quizzing, known as 'Hot Quizzes.' They provide a formal, non-threatening opportunity to accurately highlight student strengths and identify specific weaknesses in knowledge or procedure. Crucially, the quiz data is immediately actionable: quizzing is followed by mandated time for students to recognise strengths and respond to areas of weakness, correct their errors, and receive targeted intervention. This allows them to thrive on improvements and see their hard work directly translate into verifiable progress. 

Our Character Curriculum: Ambitious Individuals 

Our Maths classes are strategically built to help every student grow, embedding character development alongside mathematical fluency. We want every student to feel confident and analytical, ready to use their quantitative skills in the real world. 

We focus on teaching transferable skills that can then be applied to unfamiliar problem-solving contexts. We achieve this by systematically breaking down complicated multi-step questions or real-life contexts into small, achievable steps, fostering resilience. We prioritise learning talk to encourage students to start to articulate their reasoning mathematically using precise vocabulary. 

At KS3, we dedicate fortnightly numeracy lessons. This time allows students to secure the foundational knowledge (such as the efficient use of four operations, percentage calculations, and time) required to become fluent and efficient in their approach to future exams and financial scenarios. 

Our Cultural Curriculum: Ambition Beyond our Classrooms 

The TEA Maths Department is committed to fostering ambition and measurable growth by encouraging students to extend their learning beyond the classroom. Our cultural curriculum is built on promoting independent practice and competitive readiness. 

We drive knowledge deepening by encouraging students to develop toolkits for applying learned knowledge through investigations, group challenges, and class quizzing. We foster self-directed learning through platforms like Sparx Maths, which

provide personalised practice tailored to individual weaknesses. This is reinforced by the Maths Club, which builds essential numeracy and logic skills in a supportive, collaborative environment. 

For competitive readiness, in KS3, we provide dedicated training for the Trust Swale Academy Maths Challenge, building teamwork and advanced problem-solving skills. Crucially, moving into our KS4 curriculum, Wednesday afterschool Intervention offers 

highly targeted, data-driven support addressing specific, high-leverage GCSE knowledge gaps, aiming to build confidence and measurable progress in mock and ultimately, summer assessments.