MATHS

OVERVIEW

Developing and increasing pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding of mathematics is core to our curriculum. The National Curriculum for mathematics aims to ensure that all pupils become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics to solve problems, calculate and reason. This policy will underpin our work to ensure that all pupils are confident in each of the areas of mathematics including Number and Place Value; Addition and Subtraction; Multiplication and Division; Fractions; Measurement; Geometry and Statistics. It will ensure; high standards are achieved, that mathematics is taught well and that pupils make good progress at every stage.

INTENT

• To promote and develop children’s enjoyment and enthusiasm for maths through exciting, practical, first-hand learning and opportunities to explore and investigate
• To ensure that the statutory requirements of the National Curriculum for mathematics and numeracy are taught well and applied across all subjects of the curriculum
• To ensure that the school’s schemes of work and guidelines for mathematics are taught, thoroughly, systematically and progressively to all pupils by all staff
• To help pupils to become mathematicians by developing their problem solving and reasoning skills so that they can apply their independent thinking and questioning across the curriculum
• To ensure that from the EYFS onwards, pupils are confident in their understanding and application of their basic skills in number and the number system and that they build upon their prior learning ay every stage.
• To encourage children to use their increasing knowledge, skills and understanding of mathematics to investigate, ask questions and solve challenging problems
• To develop pupils’ confidence and skill in mental calculation methods to underpin their written methods as they explore the areas of mathematics and address increasingly complex problems
• To bring mathematics to life and make it real, to ensure that children understand the importance of maths in their everyday day lives
• To ensure that all children are well supported
• To ensure that there is capacity for repetition within the maths curriculum to embed key knowledge and skills.

IMPLEMENTATION

• An appropriate range of teaching and learning strategies will be used in all maths lessons with use of concrete, pictoral and abstract methods to support learning e.g. tens frames, part-part whole and bar modelling
• Fluency is essential in maths and our fluency policy is visible at the start of lessons to help embed key fluency facts
• Misconceptions and learning from the previous lesson are addressed / recapped in lesson starters in order that children keep up rather than catch up
• Teachers follow the White Rose progression of learning and use the ‘small steps of learning’ to ensure progression is achieved for all children i.e. progression across a lesson / unit of learning / year group / whole school. ‘Target your Maths’ is used as a supportive text book, supported by an appropriate range of teaching and learning resources, to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding of every child, ensuring that all pupils, including those with SEND, achieve high standards for their ability and make appropriate progress
• Children will be encouraged to ask questions, solve problems, apply and consolidate their knowledge, skills and understanding through first-hand experience, investigations and practical work
• Key vocabulary is displayed and referred to on working walls within the classroom in order to develop language acquisition and prepare children for transition to the next key stage of learning
• Teachers set work to develop fluency skills which then lead onto more challenging reasoning and problem solving skills in order to extend their thinking
• Learning by Questions is used in upper KS2 in order to develop children’s fluency, reasoning and problem solving skills, ensure that children receive meaningful feedback at the point of learning and to foster a love of maths
• Morning maths activities help embed previous learning into long-term memory
• Teachers will assess children’s work in mathematics through formative and summative judgements by asking targeted questions, observing learners during lessons, observing pupils solving practical problems and listening to pupils’ discussions. Work will be marked regularly and frequently and pupils will be given appropriate to address misconceptions.  Misconceptions are addressed on the same day by Teaching Assistants (1:1), as well as by the teacher at the start of the following lesson
• The mathematics subject leader will support the teaching and learning of mathematics by; providing strategic leadership and direction for mathematics, monitoring progress and standards across the school, reviewing and revising the mathematics policy, monitoring and supporting teachers in the teaching of mathematics, keeping staff up to date on new developments in mathematics, monitoring the effectiveness of the planning and development of mathematics, auditing, monitoring the effective and appropriate use of resources and obtaining new resources
• White Rose summative assessments take place at the end of each term and these are used to support learning.

IMPACT

This policy will ensure that all pupils become fluent and competent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including the varied and regular practice of increasingly complex problems over time. They will be enabled to reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, understanding relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language. Effective teaching will ensure that they can solve problems by applying their mathematics with increasing sophistication, including breaking down problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions. As pupils progress through the school they will become increasingly confident mathematicians.  The outcomes of national assessments in maths demonstrates that when children leave Harwood Meadows, they are well prepared for the next stage of their maths education.

We focus on progression of knowledge and skills and discreet vocabulary which also form part of the units of work. We measure the impact of our curriculum through the following methods:

• Assessing children’s understanding of topic linked vocabulary before and after the unit is taught
• Summative assessment of pupil discussions about their learning
• Images and videos of the children’s practical learning
• Interviewing the pupils about their learning (pupil voice)
• Subject leader monitoring of standards
• Teacher dialogue where pupil’s work is scrutinised and there is the opportunity for teachers to understand their class’s work and develop curriculum opportunities further.