Intent:
In everyday life we use Maths, from managing finances to telling the time. While most areas of employment use some areas of Maths, some people use Maths as a key element of their jobs; scientists, teachers, engineers and designers. Each of us rely upon the power of Maths to understand the world around us. At Greenfield we aim to deliver a high-quality mathematics education in order to be ready for life.
Implementation:
As the children move through EYFS to KS2 they are met with a curriculum that increases in complexity and the associated efficiency required to deal with this level of skill, whilst revisiting elements term on term and year on year to constantly build on previous learning.
Starting with regular practice, that allows an increased understanding of the essentials that make up number, measure, shape and statistics. This journey begins with with the use of physical resources along side developing mental understanding. Once ready we use these core skills to be able to draw images to support mathematical working. Before finally moving towards written methods, allowing children to develop full fluency.
Once fluent, we teach the children to apply the skills and encourage them to reason with their maths. Using their knowledge to identify relationships that allow them to describe, compare and classify. They can ‘prove it’ by explaining what their knowledge shows and it can be applied to a range of problems. The deeply-connected nature of maths allows for this multi-use of single skills in a wide range of situations. All the while, using the appropriate mathematical language for their age and stage.
Lastly, when able to reason children are asked to solve problems. This allows for the creative elements of maths to be demonstrated, real life situations where fluency and reasoning are required. Large problems need to be broken down into smaller steps. Allowing for a focus on a specific skill, that once completed adds to the greater solution. Allowing the opportunity to teach determination and perseverance in finding answers.
So how does it look in lessons?
- Maths is taught daily from Year 1 to year 6.
- EYFS have Maths mornings for 2-3 days a week.
- Maths is planned by each teacher with a medium term plan and explained further in their weekly planning. This planning follows the national curriculum objectives 2014 and is supported through the use of White Rose Maths materials.
- Work is differentiated by age and stage. Work matches the level that will allow each child to progress through the national curriculum.
- Resources are available during most sessions to allow the concrete understanding of the areas being learnt.
- KS1 and KS2 Maths sessions should have:
- A warm up activity focusing on: mental maths, rapid recall of facts or reviewing previous learning.
- An introduction covering the learning of the session.
- Main activity time where the children are asked to show their learning by completing the learning provided.
- Opportunities to review and raise issues with their learning - in the form of discussions or teacher led reminders and questioning.
- 1 session a week is partly devoted to an Assertive Mentoring Maths Skills Check - which revisits all areas of each years curriculum. These alternate between supported sessions and independent sessions, allowing teachers to gauge children's development.
- 1 session every fortnight should be given to investigation activities. teaching resilience and allowing children to put their skills to practical use.
Impact:
The impact of our teaching and learning is measured and used in a number of ways.
How is it measured?
At Greenfield we use a range of measures to measure the impact of the teaching and learning.
- We use teacher assessments to judge the progress and attainment of all pupils. These are supported with a wider range of more formal assessments.
- Pupil Progress Meetings are held termly with SLT and each teacher to measure the progress of each cohort of children.
- We use PUMA tests in all year groups to allow us to compare pupils to national figures and track in year and year on year progress.
- Year 2 and year 6 use previous SATs papers to allow further understanding of their in year progress towards end of key stage standards.
- Staff attend internal and local authority moderation events regularly to help compare judgements to those of other stages and other schools in our cluster.
How is it used?
All the above tools for measuring pupils teaching and learning are used in various ways in Greenfield. We use this information to:
- Form part of performance management discussions around pupil progress and attainment for each class and teacher.
- Hold Pupil Progress Meetings, where we use the measures made to form focus groups, catch up groups, identify potential mastery pupils, support SEND learners by pitching work at the correct expectation.
- Track groups of pupils with the school data we create, allowing us to look at: gender, pupil premium, summer birthdays and SEND to judge levels of progress and attainment and compare these to other similar pupils nationally.
- Support staff, using completed book trawls and lesson drop ins, with their professional development to improve the quality of teaching and learning at Greenfield.
National Curriculum Objectives
Below you will find the National Curriculum objectives for each year group in school. This will explain what learning will take place in each year of primary school.