Implementation:
At St Uny CE Academy, we recognise that children need to be confident and fluent across all aspects of the Maths curriculum starting from EYFS. To ensure consistent coverage, teachers follow a spiral curriculum progression outline to ensure maximum coverage across the school year but also ensure misconceptions are addressed and planning meets the needs of all learners.
EYFS and KS1 classes will this year take part in the Mastering Number Programme supported by the NCETM and local Maths Hubs. This will use rekenreks to ensure children develop automaticity in understanding subitising, the composition of number and arithmetic.
High quality teaching resources are used such as NRich, White Rose and NCETM to support, stretch and challenge all children within the classroom. In addition, the school’s calculation policy is used to ensure a coherent approach to teaching the operations across our school. This planning follows the National Curriculum https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-mathematics-programmes-of-study/national-curriculum-in-england-mathematics-programmes-of-study
All children, when introduced to a new concept for the first time, are encouraged to physically represent mathematical concepts. Objects and pictures are used to demonstrate and visualise abstract ideas, alongside numbers and symbols. The three mathematical methods used at St Uny CE Academy are:
Concrete – children have the opportunity to use concrete objects and manipulatives to help them understand and explain what they are doing.
Pictorial – children then build on this concrete approach by using pictorial representations, which can then be used to reason and solve problems.
Abstract – with the foundations firmly laid by using the concrete and pictorial methods the children can move onto an abstract approach using numbers and key concepts with confidence.
EYFS
Teaching within EYFS aims to nurture all children so that they become confident, capable mathematicians for the future. Teaching focuses on developing a deep understanding of number to 10 in ways that are engaging and appropriate for their age. Children will be taught to count beyond 20, recognising the patterns of the counting system. Children will compare quantities up to 10 in different contexts and recognise when one quantity is more or less than another. Daily opportunities are carefully planned, so that children can experience ‘hands on maths’ using real life resources.
Impact:
Summative assessment takes place at the end of each unit and children’s progress and attainment are discussed by teachers, leaders and parents. Termly PUMA assessments are used to support teacher assessment judgements as well as the 'Interim Assessment Framework' for Year 2 and Year 6. Formative assessment takes place on a daily basis and teachers adjust planning accordingly to meet the needs of their class. In addition, we place a strong emphasis on the power of questioning: this enables us both to explore topics together as a class as well as verbally develop reasoning skills during our lessons. Leaders monitor the effectiveness of teaching frequently through a rigorous monitoring schedule.
Impact - Assessment
The impact of how we teach Maths to our pupils is demonstrated through standards in National Testing:
- EYFS Number and Numerical Patterns as part of Development Matters (2020) Assessments
- KS1 Maths Attainment - Teacher Assessment
- Year 4 Multiplication Check Assessment
- KS2 Maths Attainment: SATs
SEND
Children with SEN are supported within maths lessons in a variety of ways. Adult support, the use of manipulatives and carefully differentiated tasks ensure that each child learns at the appropriate level. Teacher assessment and monitoring finds the areas of need for each child and small steps are planned to fill these gaps.
Explicit and systematic instruction, as well as systematic rehearsal of declarative and procedural knowledge, are highly effective ways of teaching disadvantaged children and those with SEND. ASD children can benefit from memorising core facts and methods to free up thinking time for problem-solving. Scaffolding is used carefully to avoid dependence, and manipulatives are used to reveal useful information and relationships rather than just as external memory devices.
