Mathematics Policy

Introduction

Aims and Objectives:

Foundation Stage

Key Stage 1

Key Stage 2

Planning

Teaching Styles and Strategies

Cross-curricular links

Effective marking in maths

The Role of the Subject Leader

Introduction

This document is a statement of the aims and principles for the teaching and learning of Maths / Numeracy at St Andrew?s Church of England Primary.

"Mathematics is not just a collection of skills, it is a way of thinking. It lies at the core of scientific understanding, and of traditional and logical argument".

Dr Colin Sparrow. Lecturer in Mathematics. University of Cambridge.

Maths consists of patterns, relationships and structures and through its creative aspects has an aesthetic appeal. Mathematics enables pupils to solve everyday problems. It provides a powerful means of communication and is essential to the study of other subjects.

Mathematics is:
- an essential element of communication which is important to analyse and communicate information and ideas;
- an important tool which can be used to enable things to be done which might otherwise be impossible and should equip the children for adult life;
- a way of teaching flexibility, initiative, accuracy, systematic logical thinking and is a source of interest and fun. Back to top

Aims and Objectives:

- to implement the current legal requirements of the National Curriculum and follow the Programmes of Study to fulfil the current Statements of Attainment and Attainment Targets;
- to ensure that each child will leave our school numerate and able to use and apply Mathematics with confidence;
- to pass on knowledge;
- to teach skills;
- to develop understanding.
- to make meaningful links with everyday situation Back to top

Foundation Stage

We teach mathematics in our reception class. Reception is part of the Foundation Stage and we relate the mathematical aspects of the children?s work to the objectives set out in the Early Learning Goals, which underpin the curriculum planning for children aged three to five. We give all the children ample opportunity to develop their understanding of number, measurement, pattern, shape and space through varied activities that allow them to enjoy, explore, practise and talk confidently about mathematics. Back to top

Key Stage 1

*** During Key Stage 1 ***
- pupils develop their knowledge and understanding of mathematics through practical activity, exploration and discussion.
- They learn to count, read, write and order numbers to 100 and beyond.
- They develop a range of mental calculation skills and use these confidently in different settings
- They learn about shape and space through practical activities.
- They begin to use mathematical language to talk about their methods and explain their reasoning when solving problems

The children should:
- Use mathematics as an integral part of classroom activities.
- Represent their work as objects or pictures and discuss it.
- Recognise and use simple patterns or relationship.
- Select the mathematics and methods they need for a task
- Discuss their work using mathematical calculation language and represent their work using symbols and diagrams.
- Be able to explain methods and reasoning
- Record their work in a variety of ways Back to top

Key Stage 2

*** During Key Stage 2 ***
- Pupils use the number system more confidently and use all four number operations competently.
- They use mental methods to tackle problems
- They explore features of shape and space and develop their measuring skills in a range of contexts.
- They discuss and present their methods and reasoning using a wider range of mathematical language, diagrams and charts.

The children should:
- Organise their work
- Discuss mathematical work and explain their thinking.
- Try different approaches and find ways of overcoming difficulties that arise when they are solving problems.
- Use and interpret mathematical symbols and diagrams.
- Show they understand a general statement by finding particular examples that match it.
- Develop their own strategies for solving problems and use these both in working within maths and in applying maths to practical contexts.
- Present information and results in a clear, organised way.
- Identify and obtain necessary information in order to carry through tasks and solve mathematical calculation problems.
- Check their results, considering whether they are sensible.
- Show understanding of situations by describing them mathematically using symbols, words and diagrams.
- Draw simple conclusions of their own and give an explanation of their reasoning. Back to top

Planning

Curriculum planning in mathematics is in two main phases (medium-term and short-term). The National Numeracy Strategy Framework for teaching also gives a detailed outline of what we teach in the long term, and details the key objectives that the average child would be expected to reach at the end of a year. We recognise that some children will either not reach or exceed these targets. Our medium-term mathematics plans, are adapted from the Framework and give details of the main teaching objectives for each term and define what we teach. They ensure an appropriate balance and distribution of work across each term. Back to top

Teaching Styles and Strategies

The teaching and learning of Mathematics is carried out by employing a range of styles including discussion, practical work, consolidation, investigation and problem solving. Approaches need to be related to the topic itself and to the abilities and experience of pupils Teaching is differentiated by matching work to children?s abilities delivered through a range of teaching styles.

Lessons will generally consist of whole class teaching and group or individual work. Children will also often be given opportunities to use equipment and practical activities to aid and consolidate their understanding.

Activities are balanced between tasks which develop knowledge, skills and understanding, and those which develop the ability to tackle practical problems. There is a balance between activities which involve the application of Maths and ideas which are purely Mathematical. Activities are of both short and long duration. Pupils own interest or questions are sometimes used as starting points. There are opportunities for both independent and co-operative work. Some tasks will have an exact result whilst others will be more open-ended, with many possible outcomes.

A range of appropriate resources and materials is available for children to use and access independently. These are kept in both Key Stages, but not necessarily for their exclusive use.

The use of appropriate mathematical language throughout the school by staff and pupils are encouraged, with the language as identified by the Recommended Vocabulary in the National Numeracy Strategy to be promoted actively through planning and class teaching. Back to top

Cross-curricular links

*** English ***
Mathematics contributes to the teaching of English in our school by actively promoting the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. For example, we encourage children to read and interpret problems in order to identify the mathematics involved. The children explain and present their work to others during plenary sessions. Younger children enjoy stories and rhyme that rely on counting and sequencing. Older children encounter mathematical vocabulary, graphs and charts when using non-fiction texts.


*** Information and communication technology (ICT) ***
Children use and apply mathematics in a variety of ways when solving problems using ICT. Younger children use ICT to communicate results with appropriate mathematical symbols. Older children use it to produce graphs, spreadsheets and tables when explaining their results or when creating repeating patterns, such as tessellations. When working on control, children use standard and non-standard measures for distance and angle. They use simulations to identify patterns and relationships. Interactive white boards are used throughout the school as a useful visual and kinaesthetic tool when teaching.

*** Science ***
Children use graphs, charts, tables and other data collection methods when recording results from science investigations. They use their skills in measuring and reading scales.

*** Personal, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship ***
Mathematics contributes to the teaching of personal, social and health education, and citizenship. The work that children do outside their normal lessons encourages independent study and helps them to become increasingly responsible for their own learning. The planned activities that children do within the classroom encourage them to work together and respect each other?s views. We present older children with real-life situations in their work eg. on the spending of money. Back to top

Effective marking in maths

There is more than one purpose for marking and they can be broadly grouped into the following four categories:

1. Marking for feedback
Marking for feedback should inform teachers about how children are progressing and help children?s learning to improve. Note that written marking of children?s work is just one way of giving feedback to children.

2. Marking for planning
This type of marking can help us to plan where we will go next with our teaching. Often it is done fairly quickly, sometimes on a daily basis, and is used to assess whether the plans that we have for the next day are still valid. If when we mark their work we discover that the children have not understood, we can adjust our plans accordingly. Similarly, if we find that the children have made more progress than expected, we can alter the plans. It can help clarify and inform medium-term planning, particularly when a completing a specific unit of work.. Using marking in this way allows us to make notes on the strengths and weaknesses of a topic, and create space within the medium-term plans to deal with these when we return to it.

3. Marking for celebration
This type of marking infers that by undertaking the task, we will find aspects of the children?s work to reward in some way. This type of positive marking assumes we will make the most of children?s potential, building on and describing their successes, rather than defining their limitations.

4. Marking to learning objectives
Each maths lesson will have one or more objectives, which as teachers we try to deliver and which we hope to achieve for our children. Using the objectives as the goalposts for the marking ensures we remain focused and our comments appropriate to those objectives identified for each year group.

*** Feedback ***
It is important to give children feedback during much of their maths learning. So if children are practising inaccurate or inefficient calculation strategies, it is essential that they are helped to realise the error quickly and then to change it, before they continue to practise it.
It is useful to categorise these written comments for marking work into:
- organisational
- encouraging
- constructive
- thinking
- challenging.
Identifying which type of comment we intend to use when marking a piece of work helps to keep marking focused. Generally speaking, written comments indicate an expectation that a child will read them. However, in some cases they can also be a useful record of assessment for teachers looking back through a child?s work to see evidence of progress over time. They may therefore be useful even if the child is too young, or is unlikely to read them.

*** Individual verbal feedback ***
Verbal feedback is an excellent way of helping children to know instantly whether they are on the right track. It is important to devise a way of working with your class that enables you to select which children you will give good quality verbal feedback to on a certain day and that ensures no child goes for any length of time without this support. The structure of the numeracy hour helps with this.

*** Written and verbal feedback to groups or the whole class ***
Giving feedback to the whole class or groups of children can save time and can sometimes be just as effective as working with those children individually. If groups of children have been working together, for example recording ideas on one large sheet of sugar paper, this is often an ideal opportunity to provide written feedback to the whole group of children, with comments attached to their large piece of recording.
Similarly, if you have been sitting working with a group of children during the main teaching activity, giving verbal feedback on their response to the task is an efficient use of your time.

*** Feedback to children ***
- It should be specific, focused on the task and not the child.
- It should encourage children to think. For example, they should be offered suggestions for how they might improve rather than being given one way of doing something. They should be given just as much help as is needed rather than being given the total solution.
- If children get something wrong they should be given a comment about the strength or weakness of their answer, not simply told they are wrong.
- Comments should focus on the children?s progress, rather than their absolute level of performance, which will help them realise that success is due to their effort, not their ability.
- Praise should be used carefully, as it can lead to a perception of success rather than real success. For example, saying ?well done? and then outlining weaknesses can be counterproductive. Back to top

The Role of the Subject Leader

The over-riding task must be to provide support for all who teach mathematics and so improve the quality and continuity of mathematics teaching and learning throughout the school.

*** The role of the subject leader is; ***
- To advise the Headteacher and Governing Body on the future development of Numeracy.
- To be responsible for the implementation of the policy documents and to monitor the development of Numeracy throughout the school, with particular regard to continuity, achievement and progression.
- To evaluate continuity, breadth, achievement and progression across the whole school by monitoring the teachers' long-term planning and pupils' work to ensure that appropriate learning outcomes and activities are planned for.
- To support classroom teachers in Numeracy
- Where appropriate, to plan and lead INSET and to be available to liase with/advise colleagues. Back to top