'The mathematician does not study pure mathematics because it is useful; he studies it because he delights in it and he delights in it because it is beautiful' Georg Cantor 

At Newfield School we aim to raise mathematicians; students who appreciate the elegance in writing a solution rather than just finding the answer. 

We are committed to inspiring young mathematicians to see the beauty in our subject as well as being able to succeed. We want to nurture curiosity and a thirst for knowledge so students appreciate the elegance of a writing a solution as opposed to just finding an answer. We believe that all our students are mathematicians; whatever age or stage they are at, we will encourage them to act and think like one. We extend our work by exploring a topic in greater depth rather than simply accelerating through the course. We give students a chance to experience the wonder of mathematics by creating time to explore deeper concepts in mathematics, such as, the Fibonacci Sequence, Irrational numbers or the fact that 0.9=1.

Reasoning and logical thinking underpin most aspects of mathematics and are some of the most important principles of our subject. We encourage our students to use and develop these skills, to not only be better mathematicians but also be able to analyse the world around us and use these skills to care for our community. Mathematics plays a role in many other subjects and disciplines, it is important to help students realise these links and enable them to develop a rich web of schemata. If you are a mathematician you are also a linguist, an engineer, a scientist, a poet and an artist. 

We succeed through relentless ambition. We believe that full understanding is achieved through procedural fluency and work on mastering the fundamental principles which weave through all other aspects of mathematics. We dedicate time in a lesson to practice these skills before applying them in more complex topics. We have ordered our curriculum in a way that supports students to see the connections within mathematics, helping them see the bigger picture. 

As a department we aim to use the best available educational research to inform our curriculum; building in time for deliberate and retrieval practice, intentionally spacing and interleaving our topics. We also use research to inform our teaching practice; clearly defined model examples, explicit instruction and intelligently varied practice are the staples of nearly every lesson. 

We are committed to fostering confidence in mathematics for all students. Feelings of success can be one of the main drivers for a student’s view of a subject. We ensure that all students are able to succeed by working on content that is appropriate to their level whilst maintaining a level of challenge to create desirable difficulty that our students need.