ST THOMAS GARNET'S SCHOOL

Policy on Mathematics

1          Aims and objectives

1.1       Mathematics teaches children how to make sense of the world around them through developing their ability to calculate, reason and solve problems. It enables children to understand relationships and patterns in both number and space in their everyday lives. Through their growing knowledge and understanding, children learn to appreciate the contribution made by many cultures to the development and application of mathematics.

1.2       Our objectives in the teaching of mathematics are:

·         to promote enjoyment of learning through practical activity, exploration and discussion;

·         to promote confidence and competence with numbers and the number system;

·         to develop the ability to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts;

·         to develop a practical understanding of the ways in which information is gathered and presented;

·         to explore features of shape and space, and develop measuring skills in a range of contexts;

·         to help children understand the importance of mathematics in everyday life;

·         to develop the cross-curricular use of mathematics in other subjects.

2          Teaching and learning style

2.1       The school uses a variety of teaching and learning styles in mathematics. Our principal aim is to develop children’s knowledge, skills and understanding. During our daily lessons, we encourage children to ask as well as answer mathematical questions. They have the opportunity to use a wide range of resources, such as number lines, number squares, digit cards and small apparatus to support their work. Mathematical dictionaries are available in all classrooms. ICT is used in mathematics lessons for modelling ideas and methods. Wherever possible, we encourage the children to apply their learning to everyday situations.

2.2       In all classes, children have a wide range of mathematical abilities. We recognise this fact and provide suitable learning opportunities for all children by matching the challenge of the task to the ability of the child. We achieve this through a range of strategies – in some lessons through differentiated group work, and in other lessons by organising the children to work in pairs on open-ended problems or games. We use classroom assistants to support some children, and to ensure that work is matched to the needs of individuals.

3          Mathematics curriculum planning

3.1       Mathematics is a core subject in the National Curriculum, and we use the National Numeracy Strategy and the revised Primary Framework for literacy and mathematics as the basis for implementing the statutory requirements of the programme of study for mathematics.

3.2       We carry out the curriculum planning in mathematics in three phases (long-term, medium-term and short-term). The National Numeracy Strategy Framework for Teaching and the revised Primary Framework for literacy and mathematics give a detailed outline of what we teach in the long term, while our yearly teaching programme identifies the key objectives we teach to in each year.

3.3       Our medium-term mathematics plans, which are adopted from the Framework, and give details of the main teaching objectives for each term, define what we teach. They ensure an appropriate balance and distribution of work across each term. These plans are kept and reviewed by the subject leader.

3.4       It is the class teacher who completes the weekly plans for the teaching of mathematics. These weekly plans list the specific learning objectives and expected outcomes for each lesson, and give details of how the lessons are to be taught. The class teacher keeps these individual plans, and the class teacher and subject leader often discuss them on an informal basis.

3.5       We plan the activities in mathematics so that they build on the children’s prior learning. While we give children of all abilities the opportunity to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding, we also plan progression into the scheme of work, so that there is an increasing challenge for the children as they move up through the school.

4          The Foundation Stage

4.1       We teach mathematics in our reception class. As the class is part of the Foundation Stage of the National Curriculum. 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.

5          Contribution of mathematics to teaching in other curriculum areas

5.1       English

            The teaching of mathematics contributes significantly to children’s understanding of English in our school by actively promoting the skills of reading, writing, speaking and listening. For example, in mathematics lessons, we expect children to read and interpret problems, in order to identify the mathematics involved. They are also improving their command of English when they explain and present their work to others during plenary sessions. In English lessons, too, maths can contribute: younger children enjoy stories and rhyme that rely on counting and sequencing, while older children encounter mathematical vocabulary, graphs and charts when reading non-fiction texts.

5.2       Personal, social and health education (PSHE)

            Mathematics contributes to the teaching of PSHE 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 mathematics work on the spending of money.

5.3       Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

            The teaching of mathematics supports the social development of our children through the way we expect them to work with each other in lessons. We group children so that they work together, and we give them the chance to discuss their ideas and results. The study of famous mathematicians around the world contributes to the cultural development of our children.

6          Mathematics and ICT

6.1       Information and communication technology enhances the teaching of mathematics significantly, because ICT is particularly useful for mathematical tasks. It also offers ways of impacting on learning which are not possible with conventional methods. Teachers can use software to present information visually, dynamically and interactively, so that children understand concepts more quickly. Younger children use ICT to communicate results with appropriate mathematical symbols. Older children use it to produce graphs and tables when explaining their results, or when creating repeating patterns, such as tessellations. When working on control, children can use both standard and non-standard measures for distance and angle. They can also use simulations to identify patterns and relationships. E-mail permits collaborative problem-solving.

7          Mathematics and inclusion

7.1       At our school, we teach mathematics to all children, whatever their ability and individual needs. Mathematics forms part of the school curriculum policy to provide a broad and balanced education to all children. Through our mathematics teaching, we provide learning opportunities that enable all pupils to make good progress. We strive hard to meet the needs of those pupils with special educational needs, those with disabilities, those with special gifts and talents and those learning English as an additional language, and we take all reasonable steps to achieve this. For further details, see separate policies: Special Educational Needs; Disability Discrimination; Gifted and Talented Children; English as an Additional Language (EAL).

7.2       When progress falls significantly outside the expected range, the child may have special educational needs. Our assessment process looks at a range of factors – classroom organisation, teaching materials, teaching style, differentiation – so that we can take some additional or different action to enable the child to learn more effectively. Assessment against the National Curriculum allows us to consider each child’s attainment and progress against expected levels. This ensures that our teaching is matched to the child’s needs.

7.3       Intervention through School Action and School Action Plus will lead to the creation of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for children with special educational needs. The IEP may include, as appropriate, specific targets relating to mathematics.

8          Assessment for learning

8.1       Teachers will assess children’s work in mathematics from three aspects (long-term, medium-term and short-term). We use short-term assessments to help us adjust our daily plans. These short-term assessments are closely matched to the teaching objectives.

8.2       We make medium-term assessments to measure progress against the key objectives, and to help us plan the next unit of work. We use the class record of the key objectives as the recording format for this.

8.3       We make long-term assessments towards the end of the school year, and we use these to assess progress against school and national targets. We can then set targets for the next school year and make a summary of each child’s progress before discussing it with parents and carers. We pass this information on to the next teacher at the end of the year, so that s/he can plan for the new school year. We make the long-term assessments with the help of end-of-year tests and teacher assessments.

8.4       The mathematics subject leader keeps samples of children’s work in a portfolio. This demonstrates the expected level of achievement in mathematics in each year of the school. Teachers meet regularly to review individual examples of work against the national exemplification material produced by the QCA and the DfES.

8.5       Older children are encouraged to make judgements about how they can improve their own and each other’s work.

9          Resources

9.1       All classrooms have a number line and a wide range of appropriate small apparatus. Mathematical dictionaries are available in all classrooms.  A range of software is available to support work with the computers.

10        Monitoring and review

10.1     The coordination and planning of the mathematics curriculum are the responsibility of the Headteacher who also:

·         supports colleagues in their teaching, by keeping informed about current developments in mathematics, and by providing a strategic lead and direction for this subject;

10.2     The quality of teaching and learning in mathematics is monitored and evaluated by the headteacher by the book monitor system.