Intent

At Mexborough St John's, our aim is that ALL children are enthusiastic about learning maths and that they develop an inquisitive mind in the subject. As a school, we create opportunities for children to be curious about maths as well as to make the teaching and learning of mathematics exciting. We want all children to have secure basic skills in the subject, so they are then competent to apply their knowledge in a range of ways, across the mathematics curriculum. We aspire to give opportunities where children can make connections in real life scenarios that they can relate to in their own life.

 

Implementation

This policy promotes best practice and establishes consistency in Teaching and Learning across the whole school. It aims to ensure that all pupils are provided with high quality learning experiences to develop pupil’s life-long love of learning.

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There is a clear rationale behind our curriculum, and careful thought and planning has gone into each of our areas of learning.

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Here at St Johns, we follow a mastery approach to maths; this enables the children to become confident and competent when using their maths skills. The idea of mastery is that ALL children grasp the skills taught at their own pace, therefore teachers create various opportunities so they can do so. We do this through encouraging them to use both practical resources and pictures. Children are encouraged to make connections between different areas of mathematics so they are able to make independent decisions. When the children are confident, they engage in challenges that encourage them to reason and explain their mathematical thinking.

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The NCETM progression maps alongside the White Rose Calculation policies are used across school to ensure a consistent approach when using concrete, pictorial and abstract teaching and learning. This supports pupils’ understanding of mathematical concepts and secures their skills and knowledge. The school uses The NCETM progression maps alongside the National Curriculum and Early Years Curriculum Framework to ensure that skills are taught at the correct level across each year group and to promote high expectations.

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Intelligent repetition of key concepts enables children to strengthen memory over time, thus leading to deeper understanding. It is essential that children remember the knowledge that they have been taught so that learning ‘sticks’ for them to understand new knowledge, make learning links and apply this is different contexts. The core skills of recall, understand, connect, and apply are used to facilitate this.

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In each area of maths taught, teachers plan a careful learning journey which is personal to each class. This includes teaching and learning activities that enable children to grasp specific skills through a range of strategies and by using various resources. Concrete, pictorial and abstract teaching and learning is used within the journey; opportunities for real-life problem-solving is then incorporated into this in the aim that children can make connections to everyday scenarios where maths is used. As a school, we integrate topic teaching into maths lessons whenever possible.

 

Impact

Pupils’ learning over time, reflects the intended mathematics curriculum. The concepts and big ideas provide the schema through which meaning is made and helps to ensure long term knowledge growth. This in turn ensures pupils know more and can do more. 

 

Research shows that repetition of course content leads to sticky learning; the transfer of knowledge from the short term to long term memory. At Mexborough St John’s, we achieve this through regular retrieval practise: children re-visit mathematics’ basic skills and taught arithmetic through daily mental oral starters as well as using fluent in 5 arithmetic practise in KS2. Opportunities are created across areas of maths, so that children are able to transfer learnt skills and knowledge to various other areas of the mathematics curriculum. (EG: using knowledge of percentages and fractions in the learning of measures). Where children are identified has having gaps in their learning, daily intervention is given with the intention of securing these. Children can speak with confidence about what they have learnt and how they can apply this to other areas of their mathematics learning.

 

Leadership and Governance evaluate the teaching and learning of maths half termly through lesson drop ins, planning and book looks and pupil interviews. Mathematics’ data is analysed to identify key groups of pupils and priorities/ areas for improvement so that these can be swiftly addressed. Assessment is in accordance with the Early Learning Goals (ELG) in Foundation Stage, and the National Curriculum criteria for the end of Key Stage 1 and 2.

 

Assessment

Assessment for Learning is carried out through questioning, discussion, observations and the marking of work. NFER tests are carried out 3 times a year to support teacher assessment as well as the use of end of Key Stage assessment material (In Y2 and Y6). Assessment of learning (summative assessment) is inputted by class teachers into the school’s summative database. This provides the evidence of learning and achievement, enabling an accurate summative assessment to be made at the end of each school year, and at the end of Early Years Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 & Key Stage 2