Meet our Maths Lead

Russell Morris, Maths Teacher.

I began my teaching career in primary SEN settings, where I learned how powerful it is when every child feels understood, supported, and capable of success. Those early experiences shaped my belief that mathematics is far more than numbers on a page; it is a practical language for making sense of the world. Moving into secondary maths SEN strengthened this conviction, and I have found real joy in helping pupils see how maths connects to their everyday lives in meaningful, achievable ways.

What I love most about mathematics is its blend of logic, creativity, and problem solving. I aim to make maths as practical as possible, using real‑life situations to show pupils why concepts matter, whether that’s exploring budgeting, measuring, patterns, or the maths hidden in the activities they enjoy. Watching a pupil realise that they can use maths in a way that feels relevant and empowering is one of the most rewarding parts of my role.

Working with SEND pupils has taught me to value progress in all its forms and to celebrate the small steps that lead to big breakthroughs. Their honesty, resilience, and curiosity continually inspire me to adapt my teaching so that maths feels accessible, engaging, and rooted in experiences they recognise.

My approach centres on patience, clarity, and creating a safe space where mistakes are part of learning. I believe effective maths teaching grows from strong relationships, thoughtful scaffolding, and a genuine belief in each pupil’s potential. I am committed to developing inclusive, practical maths experiences that help every learner succeed.

Diversity and Inclusion

This mathematics curriculum embeds diversity and inclusion as a core principle from Year 7 through Year 11, ensuring that all learners, regardless of background, identity, or prior experience, can access, engage with, and succeed in mathematics. The pathway integrates cultural, social, and global contexts to make concepts relevant, meaningful, and empowering while developing essential numeracy, reasoning, and problem-solving skills.

In the early stages, learners explore multiplication, division, and fractions through culturally diverse examples such as global recipes, art, textiles, and data from different countries. These contexts highlight that mathematics is a universal language and a practical tool for everyday decision-making, from budgeting to fair distribution of resources. By embedding these real-world applications, pupils develop fluency, confidence, and a sense of belonging.

As they progress, topics like perimeter, area, volume, and advanced fraction work are explored through global architecture, design, and traditional practices. Pupils see that mathematical ideas emerge from many cultures and communities, fostering appreciation for diversity while applying skills to meaningful problems in construction, sustainability, and public health. Proportional reasoning, rates, and financial mathematics further develop learners’ ability to make responsible, informed decisions in personal and societal contexts.

In the later years, learners consolidate higher-level skills in estimation, compound measures, trigonometry, and rates, exploring historical and contemporary contributions from across the world. Real-life applications, from navigation and engineering to environmental analysis and global finance, reinforce the practical relevance of mathematics. Throughout, diversity and inclusion are central, helping pupils recognise that mathematical thinking is shaped by many cultures, promoting fairness, representation, and informed, responsible citizenship.

Rights and Responsibilities

This mathematics curriculum uses the theme of Rights and Responsibilities to develop learners’ skills while fostering fairness, ethical thinking, and informed decision-making. From Year 7 through Year 11, pupils explore how core mathematical concepts underpin responsible citizenship in everyday, societal, and global contexts.

In the early stages, learners build foundational skills in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions through practical, real-world contexts. They apply mathematics to scenarios such as budgeting, financial planning, recipe scaling, and fair sharing of resources. These activities highlight how numerical reasoning supports efficiency, equity, and responsible decision-making, helping pupils understand that mathematics is not just abstract but a tool for ethical action.

As pupils progress, they apply proportional reasoning, percentages, ratios, and scales to meaningful problems. This includes income, taxation, charitable giving, map reading, urban planning, and resource distribution. Working with percentages and fractions strengthens financial literacy, while ratio and scale develop spatial awareness and fairness in real-world applications. Pupils also explore unit conversions, measurements, and volumes in contexts such as health, sustainability, and construction, linking mathematics directly to responsible living and decision-making.

In the later years, learners consolidate higher-level skills including geometric reasoning, similarity, congruence, and proportional comparison. These concepts are applied to practical contexts such as design, architecture, fair trade, and global comparisons. Pupils are encouraged to use mathematics to question, justify, and analyse, recognising their right to access knowledge and their responsibility to apply it ethically. Across all years, this curriculum ensures that mathematics supports both practical competence and moral awareness, empowering pupils to make fair, informed, and responsible choices in daily life and society.