Mathematics Policy | Leigh Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School

Leigh Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School

Mathematics Policy

'A high quality maths education provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject.’
Primary National Curriculum 2014

Maths Mission Statement
“As teachers at Sacred Heart, our aim is to produce well-rounded mathematicians who are fluent in mathematical language and number calculations; can reason about choices and decisions they make; can take and apply these skills to solve problems in their everyday lives.”

Introduction
The curriculum at Sacred Heart ensures our pupils reach their full potential, have a sound base of knowledge and skills to prepare them for their next stage in their learning journey and foster a love of learning.

How have we designed our mathematics curriculum?

Our curriculum has been designed ensuring cohesion, coverage and consistency.

Cohesion

We have taken careful consideration on how best to connect this learning in a way that ensures that mathematics in the classroom flows from lesson to lesson and helps pupils see how different areas and concepts connect. Example: for pupils to grasp proportionality they must have a sound understanding of fractions. Developing cohesion is extremely important at Sacred Heart and staff are reminded to study each learning block thoroughly before progressing on to the next concept. Staff follow the White Rose Hub long and medium term overviews to ensure teaching blocks are delivered in the correct order. Short term plans are available; however Subject leaders actively encourage staff to be creative in the classroom and tailor their lessons and resources to the needs and age related learning ability of the pupils in their class. This ensures all pupils are being supported and challenged appropriately.

Y3 Yearly Overview taken from the White Rose Hub scheme of learning

Coverage
Curriculum coverage at Sacred Heart doesn’t simply mean experiencing all of the curriculum statements, but ensuring a deep learning is achieved. Pupils should experience a breadth of learning which will help to build on their overall mathematical knowledge. Our curriculum design provides sufficient opportunities for pupils to revisit and deepen understanding through spaced learning activities such as ‘Five in Fine; ‘A Blast from the Past’ and ‘Flashback 4’. As well as these activities, teachers at Sacred Heart are encouraged to design their own bespoke tasks which target specific areas that have been identified to ‘keep bubbling’.
Throughout the whole mathematics curriculum, fluency, reasoning and problem-solving is key to the way that the subject is delivered. An element of these three key aspects should be seen in most lessons.

Consistency

A focus upon ensuring high quality teaching is evident in all classrooms by ensure that colleagues have sufficient subject knowledge and teaching expertise. Teachers are given opportunities to be exposed to the conceptual development in maths and how this informs the selection of effective teaching approaches for an area of study. Teachers are expected to have a good understanding of the curriculum across phases and not just the year group they currently teach: they know where their pupils are ‘coming from’ and ‘going to’.

Roles and responsibilities of our subject leaders

The Mathematics subject leaders and the senior leadership team are responsible for ensuring that all staff are adequately supported, ensuring that they are able deliver the mathematics curriculum to the highest possible standards. They ensure that staff are able to purchase appropriate resources and manage budgets responsibly. Leaders always lead by example. Regular communication with staff is sustained throughout the year and leaders offer an ‘open-door policy’. It is the responsibility of leaders to ensure pupils are exposed to high quality maths lessons using high quality resources. Teachers are equipped, through regular training with local maths consultants, with the skills and expertise to deliver the curriculum. Leaders are to attend termly subject leader meetings with LA colleagues and relevant information is to be fed back to staff during staff meetings.
Mathematics subject leaders are required to identify areas of improvement and development within the subject. In collaboration with the SLT and governors, they are to provide an annual action plan (reviewed termly) which will form part of the school development plan.
Subject leaders are required to lead by example in the way they teach in their own classroom; teach demonstration/ team-teaching lessons where necessary; support NQTs and RQTs; prepare, organise and lead staff meetings and INSET sessions with the support of the SLT and external consultants; and work co-operatively with the SEND coordinators.

Monitoring

Subject leaders monitor progress in mathematics throughout the school through lesson observations, learning walks, observations of children’s workbooks, and by exploring pupil/staff voice. Feedback to staff, and also pupils, is delivered constructively. Teachers must always be given the opportunity to engage in open discussion regarding any form of monitoring.

Learning Environment and Learning Walls

Staff are expected to have engaging, interactive learning environments which inspire children to learn. The learning environment is key to supporting pupils learning and a mathematics ‘working wall’ is a key part of this. Working walls are evident in our classrooms as a display of the learning process and a reference point to support learning. They may include modelled examples, steps to success, visual aids, challenge, vocabulary or examples of good work.
The main purpose of a working wall is to support children in their current learning and enable independence. Displays are built with the children at the point of teaching; time spent displaying things on the wall outside of teaching time should be minimised and what is displayed should be genuinely relevant. The children should see the context in which it is built and therefore are more likely to understand its purpose and be able to use it as a resource to learning.

Examples of working walls in Year 6:

Mathematics Teaching Time

To provide adequate time for developing mathematics skills, each class teacher will provide a daily 1-hour
mathematics lesson. To ensure that children have accurate recall of facts and methods, additional ‘spaced learning’ time outside of the daily mathematics lessons are planned for (e.g. ‘five in five’, flashback activities, multiplication and division facts sessions). During these incidental sessions, children will practise and consolidate basic skills. Recall of methods encourages children to select and choose an appropriate strategy to enable them to become more efficient mathematicians e.g. mentally, jottings or choosing an expanded or compact written method.
The structure of each mathematics lesson is flexible and will vary depending on the needs of the children and the content of the lesson. Wherever possible, lessons should include elements of fluency, reasoning and problem solving.

During the daily mathematics lessons, there will be a good balance between whole-class, group teaching and individual work. Pupils are typically organised into groups according to their ability in KS2.
In KS1 children stay within their own registration group but smaller ‘ability groupings’ may be used within a lesson. All groupings are reviewed regularly and the majority of children will follow the mastery approach to learning and have access to the same work with various methods of support and challenge used to cater for the differing needs of children (differentiation). For pupils working significantly below AREs (SEND etc.) a tailored curriculum is provided and work/activities are delivered at their individual learning expectations following a ‘stage not age’ philosophy.

Provision of teaching and learning

At Sacred Heart, a mastery approach to teaching and learning is followed. Maths mastery is a teaching and learning approach that aims for pupils to develop deep understanding of maths rather than being able to memorise key procedures or resort to rote learning. The end goal and expectation is for all pupils (with very limited exceptions) to have acquired the fundamental facts and concepts of maths for their year or key stage such that by the end of it they have achieved mastery in the maths they have been taught. At this point they are ready to move confidently on to their next stage of their learning journey. Mastery of a mathematical concept means a child can use their knowledge of the concept to solve unfamiliar word problems, and undertake complex reasoning, using appropriate mathematical vocabulary. Maths mastery is a not a quick fix to maths learning but a journey that our teachers and pupils go on together, with regular diagnostic assessment to check the pupils understanding and direct instruction that teaches to any gaps.

Sequences of learning and progression

Yearly objectives are taken from the National Curriculum for Mathematics and programmes of study are accessed for the appropriate year group. To ensure curriculum coverage and consistency in progression throughout the school, materials from the White Rose Maths Hub scheme of learning (long and medium term overviews) form the basis of our teaching sequences. The expectation is that the majority of pupils 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 pupils’ understanding and their readiness to progress to the next stage. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly should be challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems rather than acceleration through new content. Those who are not sufficiently fluent with earlier material should consolidate their understanding, including through additional practice outside the maths hour (interventions), before moving on.
Learning mathematics is a process that requires active involvement. At Sacred Heart, we aim to provide opportunities for children to become actively engaged in the learning process. Our aim is to inspire children by giving them a lively sense of interest and enjoyment in mathematics, with an understanding of its practical and creative use in everyday life. Therefore, a variety of teaching methods are employed to bring about effective learning with due regard being given to the ability and expertise of the learners, the suitability of resources and the time available to complete activities.
The teaching of mathematics at Sacred Heart provides opportunities for:
• group work
• paired work (think – pair - share)
• whole class teaching
• individual work
• listening, responding to and evaluating their own and others’ contributions
Quality questioning underpins our philosophy for teaching mathematics. At the start of every teaching
sequence, questioning (WRH ‘maths talk’) enables teachers to assess where the children are in their
learning journey, allows for prior learning discussions, and provides assessment allowing us to plan
effectively for the future needs of the children. Questions are used as a basis for further questioning, to
unpick misconceptions and deepen the children’s knowledge and understanding. This enables teachers to
adapt their teaching to the needs of the children, offering them the opportunities to exceed expectations
and add depth to their understanding. Pupils engage in:
• the development of mental strategies
• written methods
• practical work
• investigational work
• problem solving
• mathematical discussion
• consolidation of basic skills and number facts
As mathematics is such an important life skill, we embrace a ‘Mastery’ approach to our lessons. The White
Rose Hub scheme of learning is taught across the school, allowing pupils to spend longer on key
mathematical concepts, most noticeably number. During these longer units, pupils will see mathematics in
a real life context, before moving at an appropriate pace from the concrete/pictorial approach (supported
by manipulatives including Numicon, Base 10, number tracks & number lines, and place value charts &
counters to the abstract.

Developing fluency, reasoning and problem solving Mathematicians

The Mathematics curriculum at Sacred Heart embraces the Primary National Curriculum to ensure that all our children, from EYFS to Y6 are fluent in the fundamentals of maths, can reason mathematically and become confident problem solvers.

Fluency is a fundamental of mathematics, including through varied and frequent practice with increasingly complex problems over time. We ensure that pupils have conceptual understanding and are able to recall and apply their knowledge rapidly and accurately to problems.
At Sacred Heart we ensure that children become confident in the two types of fluency:
• Conceptual fluency (e.g. exploring the five strands of place value, what an equivalent fraction is and identifying key features of different representations of data.)
• Procedural fluency (e.g. +- x ÷ calculation methods linked to whole numbers, fractions and decimals and exploring step by step mental and written methods.)
Children at Sacred Heart will be given regular opportunities to recall known facts, develop number sense, know why they are doing what they are doing and know when it is appropriate and efficient to choose different methods and will apply skills to multiple contexts e.g. multiplying and dividing by 10 to convert units of measurements.

Reasoning mathematically means following a line of enquiry, conjecturing relationships and generalisations, and developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language.
In our school we ensure that children become confident in mathematical reasoning through providing opportunities for them to:
• Conjecture relationships and generalisations (e.g. if I add an odd and an odd number it will always result in an even number or all quadrilaterals have 4 right angles – true or false?)
• Developing an argument, justification or proof using mathematical language (e.g. prove it, justify, convince me, how can you work it and how did you work it out?)
• Explore a variety of reasoning challenges such as: alike and different, odd one out, true or false, spot the mistake and sometimes, always or never true.
These reasoning challenges can be ‘adopted or adapted’ for any strand of mathematics: number, measurement, statistics, geometry. To ensure that our children are confident in mathematical reasoning we model and encourage children to consider and choose what sort of working out is required linked to different reasoning questions e.g. verbally explaining, using words or numerals and symbols, pictorial representations such as ten frames, place value charts or tables and use of concrete equipment such as Numicon, Base 10 and ten frames.
Reasoning is explicitly taught during maths lessons and is continually visited through reasoning challenges in all strands of maths.

Problem solving requires the children to be secure in and build upon conceptual understanding (fluency) and mathematical thinking and language (reasoning) to help solve sophisticated problems in unfamiliar
contexts. Problem solving means 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. There are five different types of problem solving which we teach in each year group and explore through different strands of Mathematics. These are: word problems, working systematically to find all possibilities, visual and diagram puzzles, finding rules and describing patterns and logic problems. Children demonstrate their knowledge and understanding by being provided with the opportunity to use and apply the skills and knowledge they have gained. It should be presented through a context, which is meaningful and stimulating for all children at their own level. Children should be confidently able to apply their skills and knowledge to imaginatively solve problems.

Captain Conjecture:
Captain Conjecture is our ‘maths mascot’ and is displayed in all classrooms. Children are regularly posed reasoning and problem solving tasks in which they are asked to ‘conjecture’ the characters mathematical statements or questions by proving, explaining, showing, reasoning etc.

Recording and presentation in workbooks

At Sacred Heart, we believe that workbooks should be a resource for revision as well as a place for pupils’ work: a working document. Teachers are mindful that requiring pupils to do most of their work on white-boards, will remove further opportunities to revise steps in calculations. At Sacred Heart we encourage pupils to show clear, methodical workings and to show pride in their work. When teaching complex concepts or procedures, it is necessary to break them down into logical steps and ensure that all pupils understand each step of the process.

When pupils undertake practical activities, teachers are encouraged to record findings through photographic evidence creating ‘floor-books’ to celebrate children’s learning experiences.

Inclusion in Mathematics

The needs of all children are considered carefully when planning and teaching mathematics at Sacred Heart. We want children to reach their full potential and where necessary, teachers identify which children are not making adequate progress and take steps to improve their progress and attainment in.

Teachers will involve all pupils through carefully planned support, scaffolding and challenge. Pre-teach and Keep-Up interventions are used to help support lower attaining children continue to make progress and access the daily lessons with their peers. Catch-Up interventions are used to narrow the attainment gap between lower attaining pupils and those working at age related expectations. These interventions are planned and delivered according to the needs of individual pupils following the mastery teaching approach.
Higher attaining pupils are provided with challenges within the lessons to deepen their learning and are provided with opportunities to apply their knowledge and understanding across other subjects.
Pupils that have fallen significantly behind ARE and SEND pupils, are given a more tailored curriculum. In some maths lessons, pupils will be taught using WRH schemes from previous year/s and will be targeted for extra ‘catch-up’ sessions outside the maths hour using the Ready-to-progress material.

Pupils with Special Educational Needs and Provision Maps
Teachers include all pupils in their daily mathematics lessons including those with SEND. Where appropriate, this will be achieved through differentiated work or grouping and, in exceptional circumstances, an individualised curriculum.

Assessment

At Sacred Heart, assessment is an integral part of the teaching process and is carried out with rigour. Our assessment process is in-depth and is purposeful. It allows teachers to match the correct level of work to the needs of their pupils, thus benefiting the pupils and ensuring confidence and progress. At Sacred Heart, assessments are used to inform teachers in a continuous cycle of planning (including interventions), teaching and assessment.

Summative assessment occurs at pre-defined periods of the academic year such as SATs tests, end of unit White Rose tests, end-of-term White Rose tests. At the end of Key Stage 1 and 2, Y2 and Y6 teachers make formal end-of-key-stage assessments. Summative tests help teachers to benchmark pupils, track progress and to make mid-year and end of year judgements on a child’s attainment against a year group’s programme of study objectives. Internal formal assessments are administered with rigour. Internal summative assessment data is collected at key points in the year (termly) by senior leaders and provides information about the impact of our mathematics curriculum on children’s progress and attainment. Based on analysis of formal assessments, pupils can be given targeted interventions.

Formative assessment is the ongoing assessment carried out by teachers both formally and informally during mathematics lessons. This type of assessment is used to assess knowledge skills and understanding and is used to identify gaps and misconceptions. The results of formative assessments have a direct impact on the teaching materials and strategies employed immediately following the assessment. It enables teachers to provide scaffolding, support or challenge to pupils as appropriate.
Methods of formative assessment include:
• Quality questioning
• Talking to the children (verbal feedback: group and individual).
• Marking and feedback of pupils’ work (see marking policy for details)
• Self and peer assessment against specific learning objectives
All class teachers are committed to raising standards of attainment through AFL and are responsible for the assessment of all pupils in their class.

Links between Mathematics and other subjects
Mathematics contributes to many subjects and it is important the children are given opportunities to apply and use mathematics in real contexts. At Sacred Heart, staff are encouraged to make cross-curricular links where possible to provide meaning and context to the teaching. This will allow the children to gain an understanding of how mathematics fits in to everyday life and make connections with the real world e.g. data representations to support Science investigations.

Mathematics Non-negotiables

In a regular week, maths must be taught for at least 1 hour per day.
All teachers are to follow the WRH long and medium-term (small steps) plans. Teachers should supplement the plans with engaging, aligned resources and other bespoke activities (teacher made).
A clear block-to-block sequence of learning must be seen in workbooks or ‘floor-books’ to ensure curriculum coverage and progression.
Teachers must not overuse ‘daily worksheets’ and maths exercise books must be used appropriately as a working document showing clarity of written workings.
Pupils are to be taught an appropriate balance of fluency, reasoning and problem solving applying the ‘six and a twist’ concept where possible.
Staff are to use a range of concrete, pictorial and symbolic teaching methods.
Pupils are to be challenged regardless of ability. Pupils should enjoy ‘grappling’ with challenging problems, both set in context and non-contextual.
Pupils should be taught according to their ability level (‘stage not age’).
Staff must provide regular ‘spaced learning activities’ outside the maths hour (five in five etc.).
Teachers should have high expectations of ‘all’ pupils and pupils should be encouraged to take pride in their work.
Documents to be read in conjunction with this policy include:
Written Calculation Policy
National Curriculum 2014
White Rose Maths Hub Schemes of Learning
Marking Policy
Assessment Policy
Teaching & Learning Policy
Special Needs Policy