Key Stage 3: Mathematics


Curriculum Intent


At Murray Park School we have planned our curriculum to ensure that our students are provided with a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the importance of mathematics, alongside instilling a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.

The beauty of Mathematics is that it has so many links in which students need to be able to move fluently between, therefore, we have ensured that we have programme of study for key stage 3 that is organised into the core fundamentals of Maths, but also allows students to build upon the knowledge gained in prior stages and make connections across mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and confidence in solving more complex problems.

By following the national curriculum for mathematics we ensure that our students will be able to:

  • become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that students develop conceptual understanding and the ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly and accurately;
  • reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, forming relationships and generalisations and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language;

We know and appreciate that Mathematics can be hard, but we want our students to grapple and flourish with the exciting opportunities we have to offer in the depths of exploring different contexts.



Curriculum Overview

All students in key stage 3 follow the National Curriculum.  The yearly teaching programmes for Years 7 to 9 are set out by the National framework and are organised in five main Mathematics strands. The areas covered are:


Ratio and Proportion


Geometry and Measures

Probability and Statistics


Numeracy is not mentioned in the above strands as this is crucial through all of the mathematics taught. Numeracy is the ability to be able to use mathematics in the real world and apply it to make the best possible decisions. Our curriculum has been designed in order to allow students to have the opportunity to explore and link to real life contexts of Mathematics, through the application of percentages to look at calculating interest rates on bank accounts and working out prices in sales, to calculating the amount of ingredients needed in a recipe when cooking for more or less people and calculating costs for redecorating rooms to name a few. Numeracy skills are equally as important as literacy skills and are fundamental to everyday life.

Key Stage 3 Curriculum

We have ensured that over the three year key stage 3 we build upon the students’ mathematical skills in each year, checking that the foundations of each skill are secure before extending which enables our students to recall and retrieve prior knowledge. Our students all have the same opportunities to access the content delivered within the curriculum and are stretched in every single area. To support the delivery of our curriculum, we set frequent assessments and use pre and post testing to ensure that our students are accessing a programme that is tailored to their individual needs.

The students in Year 7 start by looking at the number system and place value which allows the students to have a full understanding of what the number system means and represents. The students then explore different number systems. The students are able to explore, justify and reason when using different applications of number and they will begin to link this knowledge to other areas of mathematics, such as Area, Perimeter and Volume. In the spring term the students study Geometry by knowing and recalling the properties of shapes and looking at key angle facts that are required. This unit is then followed by the introduction of fractions. The students are able to apply prior knowledge to the exploration of mathematical methods and even into algebra. In the summer term, the students are introduced to algebraic manipulation, learning simplification and application. The year finishes with looking at percentages and applying percentages to different ways of representing and calculating statistics.

The students in Year 8 start by retrieving their knowledge of number from the previous year with the extension of working out HCF, LCM, product of primes and linking this to adding and subtracting fractions and finding with algebraic terms. The students then solve equations, inequalities, recognise sequences and substitute into formulae. In the spring term, the students study 2D geometry, recapping earlier skills but also looking at circles and working with converting between the different units of measure and area. Once confident in these skills, the curriculum moves to proportion and measures. The students are able to calculate speed, distance, time and work out ratio. They will also develop their understanding of proportion. In the summer term we work with 3D shapes, finding area and volume whilst applying to scale diagrams. The year ends by finding and using averages from different data sets, being able to use, compare and explain what each represent.

The students in Year 9 will begin with ensuring that they are confident at recalling Standard form and the use of it and understanding the application of the index laws. This will lead on to being able to confidently substitute into expressions and to plot graphs to represent equations, including; linear, quadratic, cubic and reciprocal. The link with sequences will be studied. In the spring term, 2D geometry is revisited. The students extend their knowledge by studying arcs and sectors and applying this knowledge to more complex problems. The students then investigate how to find interior and exterior angles numerically and algebraically and they solve inequalities both graphically and on a number line by solving more complex equations. In the summer term, the students explore triangles and the different applications that can be used. They will be introduced to Trigonometry and Pythagoras’ Theorem and they will learn how these can be applied and used in real life contexts. The term ends with the students studying probability, using skills that have been built through the previous modules to allow them to calculate accurately probabilities of events.

An outline of what the students will study during key stage 3 is set out in the table below:


Extra-curricular activities

The Department provides Booster sessions to help the students to focus on their areas for improvement.

Useful Websites

Alongside the teaching in the classroom, students will be directed to use the following websites for homework purposes or for revision materials:

Hegarty Maths –

Dr Frost Maths  –

TTRockstars –

National Oak Academy –