McLEAN NURSERY & PRIMARY SCHOOL
MATHEMATICS & NUMERACY POLICY – Summary for Parents/Carers
February 2012
Introduction
At McLean Nursery & Primary School we believe Numeracy and Mathematics are important in our everyday life, allowing us to make sense of the world around us and to manage our lives. Mathematics and Numeracy learning gives children access to the wider curriculum and makes connections with real-life situations. It allows them to understand and interpret information, identify possibilities, weigh up different options and decide on which option is most appropriate.
Aims
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To provide rich and stimulating learning experiences, which engage and challenge all children to develop their mathematical and numerical knowledge, understanding and skills.
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To ensure all children understand the part that Mathematics plays in almost all aspects of learning, life and work and that they apply their learning in relevant and meaningful contexts.
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To equip children with the confidence and skills they need to interpret and analyse information, simplify and solve problems, assess risk and make informed decisions.
Experiences & Outcomes
The Mathematics experiences and outcomes are structured within 3 main organisers: Number, Money and
Measure; Shape, Position and Movement; Information Handling.
Some statements of experiences and outcomes in Mathematics are also identified as statements of experiences and outcomes in Numeracy. These form an important part of the mathematics education of all children as they include many of the numerical and analytical skills required by each of us to function effectively and successfully in everyday life.
One such aspect is the importance of building financial capability in all our children. Through our Numeracy
& Mathematics curriculum and through the development of Enterprise skills in Interdisciplinary Learning we aim to develop in all children financial understanding and responsibility to help them to make informed decisions and choices about finances in a range of contexts.
Effective Learning and Teaching
The experiences and outcomes encourage learning and teaching approaches that challenge and stimulate children and promote their enjoyment of mathematics and numeracy. To achieve this, teachers will use a skilful mix of approaches, including:
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Planned active learning which provides opportunities to observe, explore, investigate, experiment, play, discuss and reflect.
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Collaborative learning in a range of groups/pairings, to encourage children to reason logically and creatively through discussion of mathematical concepts and ideas.
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Opportunities for discussion, communication and explanation of thinking.
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Using relevant contexts and experiences , as well as imaginative play , to allow children to explore and apply mathematical concepts.
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Making links between mathematical concepts and across the curriculum.
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Using technologies in appropriate and effective ways.
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Developing problem solving capabilities independently or in groups . From the early stages children will experience success in mathematics and develop the confidence to take risks, ask questions and explore alternative solutions without fear of being wrong.
The Development of Mental Agility
The development of mental agility is crucial to children’s confidence and success in using and applying mathematical concepts throughout their education and life. Teachers plan to establish and consolidate childre n’s fundamental numeracy skills using imaginative, interactive approaches, so that children develop a sound understanding of number, e.g. recall and use of number bonds, ( number bonds let children see the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction) , multiplication facts, in their understanding of place value (e.g. hundreds, tens and units), and in the application of mental strategies.
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How do we ensure progression?
As children develop concepts within mathematics, these will need continual reinforcement and revisiting in order to ensure a depth of understanding. Teachers will plan this development by providing children with more challenging contexts within which to apply their skills.
We strive to ensure that all children are given appropriate opportunities to develop their mathematical thinking skills to ensure progress in learning and in conceptual development. Skills are developed across a range of contexts including through more practical or applied learning opportunities.
Assessment for Learning
Teachers discuss with learners what they are expected to learn. They clarify and share learning intentions and success criteria and appropriate experiences for achieving these. Both teachers and children foster a sense of achievement by sharing challenging and realistic expectations. Sharing success criteria along with learning intentions allows learners to ‘see what success looks like’. As children progress they are supported in devising their own success criteria.
High quality interactions between teachers and children lie at the heart of assessment as part of learning and teaching. These interactions promote thinking and demonstrate learning and development. They are based on thoughtful questions, careful listening and reflective responses.
Children also receive early and accurate feedback and are given the opportunity to discuss the teacher’s assessments and thei r implications for future progress. Teacher’s feedback to children is constructive and sensitive to ensure that they have a positive effect on pupil confidence and enthusiasm. Wherever possible, feedback is given during the lesson so that pupils can act upon it immediately.
Children are also supported and challenged to develop the skills necessary to evaluate their own work effectively and to be able to participate in peer assessments.
Assessment of Learning
In Mathematics and Numeracy staff assess pupil progress and security of learning, using a range of evidence of learning. This range allows learners to demonstrate what they know, understand and can do. The evidence will be different depending upon the kind of learning being assessed, the learni ng activity and the child’s preference about how to show what they have learned.
Assessment in Mathematics and Numeracy will focus on children’s abilities to work increasingly skilfully with numbers, data and mathematical concepts and processes and use them in a range of contexts.
Teachers gather evidence of progress as part of day-to-day learning about number, money and measurement, shape, position and movement and data analysis as well as from specifically designed assessment tasks, activities and tests.
Moderation
Collaboration with colleagues across all stages in the school and with other schools, allows for moderation of standards and expectations. We are striving to develop a shared understanding of standards and expectations, as well as effective learning and teaching within Numeracy and Mathematics.
Monitoring & Evaluation
Teachers evaluate children’s learning and the impact of teaching approaches on a daily basis and in discussions with the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher at key points each term.
In our Nursery we have daily and weekly planning meetings to reflect on the learning experiences in order to identify next steps and weekly focus meetings , were the progress of individual children is evaluated. We also have a weekly Nursery Staff Meeting that allow for discussions around Nursery Improvement priorities, progress made and next steps.
We monitor and evaluate our Mathematics & Numeracy policy annually through whole school evaluation of teaching and learning in Mathematics and Numeracy, using a range of quantitative (tracking information) and qualitative data and trends in achievement over time to support decision-making on areas for improvement.
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