Maths at Barwic Parade
Intent
Mathematics is a tool for everyday life. It teaches children to make sense of the world around them through developing their ability to calculate, to reason and to solve problems. At Barwic Parade, we strive for everyone to have a positive growth mind-set and strong subject knowledge. It is not the case that some pupils can do Mathematics and others cannot. No pupil should be left behind. Our intent is to provide children with a mathematics curriculum that will allow them to become confident individuals through developing their mathematical skills to their full potential. We also aim to present maths in challenging and exciting ways to promote a positive and enthusiastic attitude towards maths. By making high expectations clear and emphasising the value of Maths, pupils are encouraged to build confidence and resilience. Abilities are neither fixed nor innate, but can be developed through practice, support, dedication, reflection and hard work. A positive pupil and teacher mind-set in maths encourages a love of learning and resilience that enables everyone to achieve. We are committed to ensuring that all pupils are given the opportunity to achieve mastery in the key concepts of maths, appropriate for their age group, in order that they make genuine progress and avoid gaps in their learning as they move through education.
In line with the National Curriculum (2014), our overall intent focuses on all pupils being able to:
Implementation
We believe all children can succeed mathematically and, as such, all children should follow the same curriculum and expectations. We ensure, through our informed planning and preparation process, that all children are given opportunities to: experience practical maths activities and investigations to support their learning, acquire fluency of skills, develop their reasoning, questioning and problem solving skills in a variety of contexts, take part in class, group, partner and independent learning tasks and learn, use and apply a range of methods to calculate solutions to varied question types.
All class teachers are responsible for weekly planning, based on the ‘Whiterose Maths’ scheme (WR) of learning and enhanced by a wide range of resources. This ensures a progressive and thorough curriculum in each year group. Teachers know which objectives must be taught and assessed in each year group and can follow progressive small steps to ensure pupils have a comprehensive understanding of maths. Teachers will:
• Identify the appropriate teaching and learning strategies required, implementing the VCP (visual calculation policy) where appropriate.
• Plan lessons with balanced and engaging activities that vary from fluency to reasoning and problem solving.
• Plan for specific needs of children within their own class.
• Assess children routinely using WR pre/post unit tests and half termly using formative and summative approaches.
We have developed a mastery approach to mathematics using resources from White Rose Maths Hub to support teachers in delivering this approach. It incorporates the Concrete Pictorial Abstract (CPA) approach. We believe that children need to have the opportunity to use concrete objects and physical resources to help them understand what they are doing. Alongside this, children use pictorial representations. These representations can then be used to help reason and solve problems. Both concrete and pictorial representations support children’s understanding of abstract methods. We aim to continuously encourage children to represent their understanding in different forms e.g. words, a picture, a number sentence, as a diagram and to link between them. All lessons are built on previous knowledge and pupils have ample opportunity to develop relationships between topics.
Children are taught in an environment centred around the balanced mix of independent work, partner tasks and a lesson every two weeks dedicated to mathematical investigations and problem solving linked to the unit of work being covered. Teachers work to support and guide their children through the following stages of development:
• At the start of each new topic, key vocabulary is introduced and revisited regularly to develop language acquisition, embedding as the topic progresses.
• All lessons begin with a short assessment to support retrieval practice and develop long term memory.
• Children are taught through clear modelling and have the opportunity to develop their knowledge and understanding of mathematical concepts. The mastery approach incorporates using objects, pictures, words and numbers (Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract) to help children explore and demonstrate mathematical ideas, enrich their learning experience and deepen understanding at all levels.
• Children work on the objective at whatever entrance stage they are assessed at. Children can acquire the skill, apply the skill or deepen the skill within the lesson.
• Using and applying flexible mental strategies to solve calculations.
• Explain and justify the use of strategies or resources to solve problems and calculations.
• In KS2, using an expanded method which leads into a standard written method for each of the four operations and follows our Visual Calculation Policy (VCP).
• All children have the opportunity to deepen their understanding and to develop skills of reasoning and problem solving through greater depth activities being available to them.
Each classroom has a maths ‘working wall’ showing examples of the topic currently being covered. Online programmes (Timetable Rockstars, Maths Shed, Mathletics) are also used to enhance learning and provide motivational tasks and homework activities.
Impact
Our successful approach to the teaching and learning of maths results in:
• Children demonstrating a quick recall of facts and procedures. This includes the recollection of the times tables.
• Children demonstrate resilience and confidence in believing that they can achieve.
• The flexibility and fluidity to move between different contexts and representations of maths.
• The chance to develop the ability to recognise relationships and make connections in maths lessons.
• Mathematical concepts or skills are mastered and children can show it in multiple ways, using mathematical language to explain their ideas and can independently apply the concept to new problems with unfamiliar situations.
• Children showing a high level of pride in the presentation and understanding of their work.
• Children being reflective learners who can think about how a lesson went for themselves, identify areas of strengths and areas of development and openly discuss, with resilience, what they can do to improve next time.
Assessment
The teaching and the assessing of mathematics at Barwic follows the Assessment for Learning of: pre-teach test, plan, teach, review, post-teach test, end of half term assessment. Children’s work is marked regularly, as part of our AFL policy and assessed against national curriculum objectives. During lessons, teachers and TA’s ‘hot mark’ children’s work. This provides them with immediate feedback and at the end of the lesson, time to reflect on their learning. Mistakes are discussed and correction time given as part of a lesson. Children respond well to this and learn well from their mistakes. We see assessment as an integral part of the teaching process and strive to make our assessment purposeful, allowing us to challenge the children at an appropriate level to meet their needs, thus benefiting the pupils and ensuring confidence and progress.
As Early Adopters, children in Early Years are assessed through daily interactions with practitioners, working towards achieving the Early Learning Goals outlined in the new framework by the end of Reception Year. Formal tests are administered half termly to children from Year 1 – Year 6 to assist teachers with their assessment of individual achievement and progress in maths. Test scores are moderated within phases and progress is tracked on ‘O Track’. The following test formats are used within this process:
• Termly PUMA Progress Tests: The results are analysed and used to identify gaps in children’s knowledge and monitor progress.
• SATs Preparation Assessments: Y2 and Y6 undertake a range of preparation assessments over the course of the year. These tests are used to track progress and attainment.
• White Rose tests: Prior to each block, children complete a pre-assessment and then, at the end of each block, a post assessment. This is a clear way to measure short-term progress.