Mathematics

Maths is the one subject where a child who falls behind in October is still behind in July unless somebody notices. So we set by attainment from Year 8, and we move pupils between sets at the end of every term rather than at the end of every year — which means a set is a description of where somebody is now, not a verdict on what they are.

Roughly a fifth of the year group moves set each term. That is deliberate and we say it out loud to pupils, because a set that never changes stops being a teaching arrangement and becomes an identity.

Further Maths runs whenever at least four pupils want it, even in years when that makes it uneconomic. It has run every year since 2004.