Download Woburn Lower School Maths Policy

Woburn Lower School Maths Policy
Aims and Purpose
The National Curriculum for mathematics and our school policy aims to ensure that
all children:
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become fluent in the fundamentals of mathematics, including through varied
and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time, so that
children can have conceptual understanding and are able to recall and apply
their knowledge rapidly and accurately to a range of problems
reason mathematically by following a line of enquiry, conjecturing
relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or
proof using mathematical language
can solve problems by applying their mathematics to a variety of routine and
non-routine problems with increasing sophistication, including breaking down
problems into a series of simpler steps and persevering in seeking solutions.
Mathematics is an interconnected subject. Whilst the programmes of study are set
out in distinct mathematical areas, children should make rich connections across
mathematical ideas to develop fluency, mathematical reasoning and competence in
solving increasingly sophisticated problems. Children should also be given
opportunities to apply their mathematical knowledge in other curriculum subjects.
The expectation is that the majority of children will move through the programmes of
study at broadly the same pace. However, decisions about when to progress should
always be based on the security of children’s’ understanding and their readiness to
progress to the next stage. Children who grasp concepts rapidly, should be
challenged by being offered rich and sophisticated problems before any acceleration
to new content.
To be read with Woburn Lower School Assessment without Levels Policy,
Calculations Policy, Marking and Feedback Policy and Teaching and Learning
Policy
Teaching and learning
 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
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resources, such as number lines, number squares, digit cards and small
apparatus to support their work. ICT is used in mathematics lessons for
modelling ideas and methods. Wherever possible, we encourage the children
to apply their learning to everyday situations.
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 teaching assistants to support
some children, and to ensure that work is matched to the needs of individuals.
Planning
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Our medium-term mathematics plans define what we teach giving details of
the main teaching objectives for each term. They ensure an appropriate
balance and distribution of work across each term. These plans are kept and
reviewed by the subject leader.
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 plans and will annotate them with
notes about the pupils’ progress.
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.
Tracking
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Each child’s progress is tracked using the school’s tracking sheets. This
ensures that the programmes of study are covered and that the children are
progressing well in relation to their target. This is backed up by rigorous
evidence collection.
The school uses G2 in order to plot progress throughout the year.
Maths Journals are also kept as evidence of progress.
Children are given personal targets each term.
Assessment
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All children are tested on a weekly basis on their times tables in KS2 and
number bonds and 2x 5x and 10x tables in KS1
Teachers use formative assessment to plan the next steps of the children’s
learning.
A variety of formative tests are used including ‘Rising Stars’, ‘Abacus’ (this is
the maths scheme used at WLS) and ‘Twinkl’.
Resources
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All teachers have mathematics resources stored in their classrooms which are
easily accessible to children. Resources which are not used or required
regularly are stored centrally in Squirrels class.
Monitoring and review
The coordination and planning of the mathematics curriculum are the responsibility
of the subject leader who also:
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supports colleagues in their teaching, by keeping informed about current
developments in mathematics, and by providing a strategic lead and direction
for this
the quality of teaching and learning in mathematics is monitored and
evaluated by the Headteacher as part of the school’s agreed cycle of
monitoring and evaluation.
named member of the school’s governing body is briefed to oversee the
teaching of numeracy. The numeracy governor meets regularly with the
subject leader to review progress.
Homework
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Activities are sent home on a regular basis, as part of ongoing Mathematics
tasks with a big emphasis on times tables and number bonds.
Governor: Gill Jackson
Date: February 2016
Headteacher: N.Ivett
Date: February 2016
Review: February 2017