Intent

Maths is a powerful tool with great relevance to the real world.  For this to be appreciated by pupils, they need direct experience of using Maths in a wide range of contexts throughout the curriculum.

Using and Applying Maths provides the framework within which all Maths work should be undertaken.  Pupils should acquire Maths experiences through

a)             individual, group and class work

b)            practical, investigative, oral, written (real and imagined) problem solving activities

c)             activities which involve both independent and co-operative work.

We intend on delivering a curriculum which:

• Aims to:
• To develop a positive attitude to Maths
• To develop an awareness of its power to communicate and explain
• To provide children with mathematical experience and skills necessary to prepare them for adult life
• To develop confidence with mathematical tools and technology.
• To encourage independent learning
• To encourage children to take responsibility for planning and carrying out mathematical tasks
• To provide opportunities to use Maths in real contexts
• To provide activities which encourage the acquisition of knowledge, skills and understanding
• To enhance their ability to tackle problems
• To develop and encourage the use of mathematical language as a tool for explanation
• To develop approximation and estimation in all areas of the curriculum
• To encourage experimentation with the pattern of Maths and prediction of possible outcomes.

Implementation

• Maths planning follows the New National Curriculum. We have chosen to follow a spiral curriculum allowing opportunities for revisiting and consolidating before moving on. The agreed policy for most of the school is to follow the teaching sequence of Hamilton trust supplementing this with Classroom Secrets, White Rose and any other resources that the teacher deems appropriate to enable full understanding of a concept.
• Differentiation is shown on the weekly plans. Groupings within the class are flexible and children may move groups depending on teacher assessment throughout a unit of work.
• The work designed for a class should consist of a set of varied activities initiated by a wide range of stimuli within the classroom and drawing on their experience beyond it.
• Children with additional needs are included in whole class lessons and teachers provide scaffolding and relevant support as necessary. For those children who are working outside of the year group curriculum, individual learning activities are provided to ensure their progress.

Planning should:

Developing conceptual fluency:

A great deal of emphasis is placed on developing children’s conceptual understanding. The majority of ideas in maths are entirely abstract. In order for children to attach meaning to these abstract ideas, we need to expose them to their structure. This is done through the use of physical and visual resources, which help children to visualise maths.

Developing procedural fluency:

Equal attention is given to improving children’s procedural fluency; the ability to recall number facts quickly and efficiently. Children are expected to learn some facts off by heart, whilst they are taught mental strategies to quickly derive others.

Variation:

To ensure that children gain a good understanding of each concept, teachers will use a variety of representations and examples (as per the calculation policy).

Targets

Each class will have a whole class Maths target displayed in their classroom. Next steps or now try this will be shown in teachers marking for individual targets.

Assessment:
In order to support teacher judgments, children in year 1-6(?) are assessed termly using NFER tests that are in line with the national curriculum for maths. Gap analysis of any tests that the children complete is undertaken and fed into future planning.
Year 2 and Year 6 have end of year SATs and build up to these throughout the year using past papers as an additional tool.
Early Years complete EEXAT

Impact

Books show:

• Progress in skills development within each year group,
• Progress in knowledge and understanding of the mathematics concepts,
• Children have pride in their work and mastering objectives showing greater depth knowledge.
• Children confident at tackling new challenges.
• Children show perseverance and stamina when tackling a challenging task.
• Progress in NFER results and an improvement across the year in termly tracking.

In addition:

• SATs results

Marking:

Green for correct, pink for ‘think’.  No need to write a comment after each piece of work. Stamp or leave with no comment.  At least once a week have a ‘Now try this’ or ‘next steps’ and get the children to correct any work you see necessary.

Date the statement covered on the targets sheet inside front cover and mark absences on the inside back cover.

AS= adult support, PS= problem solving, R=reasoning, M= mastery

Lessons show:

• Challenge, a range of suitable resources, clear objectives and a passion for learning. Concrete, pictorial and abstract resources aids teaching across all year groups.

• Mathematical concepts or skills being mastered when a child can show it in multiple ways, using the mathematical language to explain their ideas, and can independently apply the concept to new problems in unfamiliar situations.

• Teachers intervene swiftly to help pupils showing misconceptions, while deepening the learning of others.

• CPD for staff shows impact in delivering the maths curriculum effectively using a wide range of teaching resources.