ELEANOR PALMER PRIMARY SCHOOL MATHS POLICY Aims 

To offer the children a balanced mathematics curriculum based on the National Curriculum;

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To present maths as a challenging, exciting, creative and relevant subject and in so doing, promote a positive and confident attitude;

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To ensure that all children achieve a high standard in mathematics.

This policy should be read in conjunction with: 

Our calculation policies;

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The publication ‘Talk Maths’, created by Eleanor Palmer staff, also enshrines much of our approach to the teaching of mathematics.

Co-ordinator Natalie Stevenson is our maths co-ordinator. Organisation of classes and ability teaching Children are taught in mixed ability classes. There is an expectation that teachers’ knowledge of pupil levels are established soon into the new school year, using a combination of test data, teacher assessment by their previous teacher and initial assessments within their new class. Broadly, planning for 3 ability levels is recommended as manageable although there may be smaller ‘table’ groupings within that. Children with special needs may well be working to an individual plan. Having set rough ability groups, our expected practice is then ‘flexible groupings’ informed by day to day ‘next steps’ marking and assessment, rather than a year of being in set groups such as ‘red group’ or ‘hexagons’. We believe that set groupings work against our commitment to ‘growth mindsets’ : if a child is told they are in a top/bottom group this can be self fulfilling. Everyone should be working at just the right challenge level – their ‘zone of proximal development’ (Vygotsky). Whatever their ability, children should not experience repeated failure or effortless success. Inclusion Eleanor Palmer is an inclusive school. Special care must be taken by all staff to ensure that all children have equal opportunity to succeed in maths and that insecurities and stereotypes are not compounded by how the work is organised and presented.

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Staff should ensure that images represented in resource material motivate all children equally. Classroom presentation and organisation should represent the achievement of all abilities. Staff should make careful decisions about groupings and pairings. Staff should have high expectations of all pupils. Time All classes should have a daily mathematics lesson equivalent of 1 hour a day or 45 minutes at Key Stage 1. We are not however, a school of clock watchers and lessons will often be longer than this, and sometimes shorter. Lessons are taught by the classteacher. As one of their daily maths lessons, Kate Frood teaches a weekly problem-solving lesson to Years 5 and 6 alongside the classteacher. Planning The core of our planning is the National Curriculum. We also have use the Hamilton Trust website to structure planning. There is a range of other resources throughout the school. and recommended websites. None of the above describe differentiation in any detail. It is expected that for each unit of work, the classteacher adapts, simplifies and extends the objectives and tasks for the specific needs of their class. Termly plans follow a whole school format (see appendix) which bring together key objectives and noted activities, games and websites. There is no requirement to use a prescribed whole school weekly planning sheet. However, it is expected that the week’s overview and objectives are clearly recorded. Simple references to other plans are acceptable. All plans should be kept within a teacher’s planning file, clearly labelled. Annotations showing changed plans, notes, formative assessments etc are critical! Each lesson has a clearly stated ‘Learning Objective’ referred to as an ‘L.O’. Children, (and in younger classes , adults) write these at the start of their work. Plans and files are monitored by the Head on a termly basis. Key questions considered as part of monitoring are:  Is there evidence of plans being adapted for the class?  Is it clear what the aims are for each week/lesson/unit of work (‘by the end of this lesson (s) the children will be able to….’)?  Are there annotations that show these plans are live working documents? When planning lessons, we believe that there is always room for unplanned activities such as an idea from a staff meeting or course! If the teacher is inspired and enthusiastic, this will influence the children. Foundation Stage In the Foundation Stage there must be a daily whole class session supported by linked independent and guided activities. By the summer term of Reception a full maths lesson

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should take place daily, in lime with the National Curriculum. Planning is based on the stages outlined in “The Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage” alongside the National Curriculum . Teaching Strategies We have a strong commitment to the following in our teaching of mathematics and it is expected that all teachers share this philosophy and demonstrate it in their teaching; 1.

    

A great emphasis on the building blocks of numeracy in the early years so that children develop a secure grasp of ‘the big picture’. We see the building blocks as; An understanding of place value; Confident recall of basic number facts and an understanding of what this unlocks (if we know this, what else do we know?) ; An understanding of the relative size and position of number; Doubling and halving; A clear set of models and images to support mental calculation.

2. Whole class interactive teaching with clear teacher exposition and modelling , both to introduce new concepts at the start of the lesson and to assess and consolidate what the children have learnt in plenary sessions; 3. A strong emphasis on questioning, by the teacher of the pupils; 4. New topics and concepts should always be introduced by clearly linking them to existing knowledge and understanding; 5. An emphasis on using and applying mathematics through problem solving; 6. Shared thinking as an approach to solving such problems and investigations; 7. Mathematical discussion between the teacher and the children and among children themselves (talk partners); 8. The use of ‘good mistakes’ as a powerful teaching tool; 9. The use of correct mathematical language ; 10. A high priority is set on the learning of times tables, with an aim that children know them all by heart at the end of Year 4; and 11. Maths games particularly as starter activities, to rehearse key facts and to engender a love of maths! Marking Wherever possible, the child should be present whilst their work is marked. The most important ‘marking’ is informal diagnostic assessment during the lesson. You should be teaching with a ‘pen in hand’. At the end of the lesson, children write a short informal note to their teacher commenting on how they found the lesson. The teacher may reply to this directly. Adult comments written when marking should be addressed to the child. Where another adult has intervened with a child’s learning, for example a support teacher during a lesson, comments should be in the 3rd person (e.g. ‘Shahed was confused multiplying the tens but now seems to get it. Well done!’ ) and such comments should be initialled. These comments are addressed to both the child and the classteacher.

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In line with our marking policy, we do not use red pen, and crosses for incorrect answers are to be avoided. The expectation is for thorough marking on a Monday and Tuesday so that ‘next steps’ for each child can be planned: this may be to move on within the theme; to go backwards or simply the next day, to work closely with the teacher to deal with problems. Whatever the next step is, it is written and coded NS (circled) in the pupil’s book. Assessment Each child’s progress should be continually assessed and should inform day to day planning. We assess by:  Observation whilst children are engaged in a task or are specifically asked to work through a question so as to identify the ‘bug in their thinking’;  Intuitive on the spot comments made by the teacher to the child/group which extend/limit or change the direction of the given task;  Discussions with the class or group, particularly during the plenary;  Formal assessment tasks as follows: At the end of each term, teachers assess maths using the APP (Assessing Pupil Progress) materials. These levels are returned to Kate on an excel data capture sheet for inputting into the school’s tracking system. From December 2014 we have decided to use the PUMA maths assessments to complement teacher assessment. Results are collected by the Head as part of our tracking of pupil attainment ‘Progress Toolkit’ system. At the end of Year 2 and 6 the children sit standard assessment tasks (SATs). These are marked internally in Year 2 and externally in Year 6. Record Keeping Teachers keep informal records on individual pupils as they progress through each topic. Records are kept by the Head tracking individual pupil progress. These are key to target setting for Year 6. In Key Stage 1, A4 2cm squared maths books are used. In Key Stage 2, A4 1cm squared books are used. Worksheets must be dated and where possible and practical, stuck in books., if not stored in a maths folder. Completed books may be taken home but the most current book moves up to the next class for assessment purposes. Presentation Work should always be dated and given a title – the ‘L.O.’. Books are to be seen as ‘work’ books and the recording of working and thinking is encouraged – thinking can be messy! Teachers each have their own style and expectation for this. We encourage clear layout of calculations to minimise errors.

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Role of support staff There is usually a member of support staff present in a maths lesson. It is our policy that they do not always work with the bottom group. Support staff should be directed to annotate children’s work during a lesson. Display of children’s work In line with our display policy, there should be a maths display in every class. This should include children’s work and should not simply be a collection of posters. Resources Each class should have a well maintained stock of core resources kept in a defined area to use regularly to provide visual support during the lesson and interactive teaching resources. The bulk of resources are kept in the maths room – down the corridor next to Year 1. The key is kept in the office (number 29). There are excellent resources on the internet for use on our interactive whiteboard. We particularly recommend Primary Games (www.primarygames.co.uk) and its parent ship www.interactive-resources.co.uk . Just ask for advice! The Headteacher also has a range of personal resources available for use in her room. Please leave a ‘post it’ detailing what you have borrowed! Calculators In line with the NNS, calculators should be used as a teaching tool from the Nursery and as a calculating tool from Year 5. They are not used where core paper and pencil methods such as multiplication are being taught, but rather for applied problem solving skills. Specific lessons about calculator skills should be taught in Years 5 and 6. Their use in Key Stage 2, as part of a weekly problem-solving lesson, is positively encouraged. Homework A weekly homework task is set throughout the school. In Key Stage 1, this has a maths focus every other week. . In Key Stage 2, maths homework is set weekly. A key principle of homework is that nothing should be sent home that the child cannot already do . At Key Stage 2, the tasks are differentiated where possible.

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