Teaching for Mastery KS3 Curriculum Design

Curriculum progression: the planned and purposeful journey to expertise

Summary

The evidence presented here supports careful consideration of sequencing and content that makes a mathematics curriculum a guarantee of long-term learning. Useful facts and efficient and accurate methods are ideally paired within a topic sequence. Strategies for solving problem types are then best taught and learned once pupils can recall and deploy facts and methods with speed and accuracy. When planning curriculum content, teachers also need to prioritise ‘forward-facing’ knowledge. This goes beyond important facts of number. It includes the mathematical methods that pupils will take with them on their journey. The ideal aim is for pupils to attain proficiency, not just collective moments of understanding, familiarity or experience. This will help pupils to develop motivation in the subject.

high-quality maths education may have the following features

• Successful curriculum progression is planned from the beginning of a pupil’s education through focusing on core content, to develop pupils’ motivation and to allow more breadth and depth later.

• The planned curriculum details the core facts, concepts, methods and strategies that give pupils the best chance of developing proficiency in the subject.

• The teaching of linked facts and methods is sequenced to take advantage of the way that knowing facts helps pupils to learn methods and vice versa.

• Sequences of learning allow pupils to access their familiarity with the facts and methods they need in order to learn strategies for solving problem types.

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OFSTED Research review series: mathematics

Published 25 May 2021

Example Key Stage 3 Curriculum Framework from a Teaching for Mastery Specialist

Retrieval Practice allows students to revisit concepts in other contexts supporting making connections and long-term memory.

Algebra is introduced in context to generalise and solve problems.

Reasons behind this curriculum design.

This Scheme of Learning is created by grouping elements of an existing Scheme of Learning into common themes and then checking coverage against the KS3 PoS.