At St. Mary’s Muhaisnah High School, Muhaisnah, we aim to develop student’s skills of problem solving, reasoning and analytical thinking by providing high-quality engaging mathematical instruction integrated with technology so that students engage actively in learning and can apply mathematical skills to the real world. The department will thus contribute to the development of students as mathematical thinkers, enabling them to become life-long learners.
All through the year, each class covers the different strands of the Mathematics National Curriculum 2014. In the primary, the learning strands are: number and place value, calculations, fractions, decimals and percentages, ratio and proportion, algebra, measurement, geometry: properties of shapes, position and direction, and statistics. While in the secondary, the subject content involves number, algebra, ratio, proportion and rates of change, geometry and measures, probability, and statistics.
The students at St. Mary’s Muhaisnah use a variety of manipulatives when learning new concepts. In line with the aims of the UK National Curriculum and the UAE Ministry of Education, when the pupils have a good conceptual understanding of the mathematical idea, they move on to pictorial and then written methods of recording their calculations and ideas.
We focus to promote a deep understanding of number and every numeracy lesson has an element of mental calculation and of reasoning, be it oral or written, where students are taught to explain, justify and generalise their ideas. We use a number of tools to support Mathematics teaching and learning across the school. Active Learn and Active Teach – a digital learning space for classroom and home tasks, are used for primary and secondary, respectively. Standardised external assessments are also in place to measure cognitive ability and to track progress. Both the CAT4 and Progress Test in Mathematics are administered to Year 4 onwards. The data obtained helps to inform teaching in Mathematics as where to provide appropriate extra support or set more challenging targets for the students.
