Intent
Maths Curriculum at EA aims to ensure that all children:
Become fluent in the fundamentals of Mathematics.
Are able to reason mathematically.
Can solve problems by applying their Mathematics Knowledge and Skills.
At EA , these skills are embedded within Maths lessons and developed consistently over time. We are committed to ensuring that children are able to recognize the importance of Maths in the wider world and that they are also able to use their mathematical skills and knowledge confidently in their lives in a range of different contexts.
We want all children to enjoy Mathematics and to experience success in the subject, with the ability to reason mathematically. We are committed to developing children’s curiosity about the subject, as well as an appreciation of the beauty and power of Mathematics.
Implementation
The content and principles underpinning the Mathematics curriculum and the Maths curriculum at Eagles Academy reflect those found in high-performing education systems internationally, particularly those Following the Common Core State Standards. These principles and features characterize this approach and convey how our curriculum is implemented:
Teachers reinforce an expectation that all children are capable of achieving high standards in Mathematics.
The large majority of children progress through the curriculum content at the same pace; significant time is spent developing deep knowledge of the key ideas that are needed to underpin future learning. This ensures that all can master concepts before moving to the next part of the curriculum sequence, allowing no pupil to be left behind.
If a pupil fails to grasp a concept or procedure, this is identified quickly and early intervention ensures the student is ready to move forward with the whole class in the next lesson.
The structure and connections within the mathematics are emphasized, so that pupils develop deep learning that can be sustained.
Lesson planning identifies the new mathematics that is to be taught, the key points, the difficult points and a carefully sequenced journey through the learning. In a typical lesson , Students sit facing the teacher and the teacher leads back and forth interaction, including questioning, short tasks, explanation, demonstration, and discussion.
Practice and consolidation play a central role. Carefully designed variation within this builds fluency and understanding of underlying mathematical concepts.
Teachers use precise questioning from the curriculum in class to test conceptual and procedural knowledge and assess children regularly to identify those requiring intervention, so that all children keep up.
Children’s explanations and their proficiency in articulating mathematical reasoning, with the precise use of mathematical vocabulary, are supported through the use of stem sentences and generalizations provided by the teacher. These help the children to make connections and expose the structure of the maths.
Stem sentence example:
Greater or Smaller?
The greater the numerator is in a set of fractions with the same denominator, the _____ the fraction.
The higher the denominator of a unit fraction, the ______ the fraction.
Generalizations example:
The length of one side of the square can be found by dividing its perimeter by 4.
Key facts such as multiplication tables and addition facts within 10 are learnt to automaticity to avoid cognitive overload in the working memory and enable pupils to focus on new concepts.
To ensure whole consistency and progression, the school uses the internationally recognized Progress in Mathematics Maths Program for the American Section and the governmental Math program for the National Section. Progress in Mathematics is a cumulative curriculum, so that once a topic is covered, it is met many times again in other contexts. For example, place value is revisited in addition and subtraction and multiplication and division. The curriculum recognizes the importance of children’s conceptual understanding of number. It is therefore designed to ensure that time is invested in reinforcing this to build competency.
Lessons are planned to provide plenty of opportunities to build reasoning and problem solving elements into the curriculum. When introduced to a new concept, children have the opportunity to use concrete objects and manipulatives to help them understand what they are doing. Alongside this, children are encouraged to use pictorial representations. These representations can then be used to help reason and solve problems. Both concrete and pictorial representations support children’s understanding of abstract methods.
Mathematical topics are taught in Units, to enable the achievement of ‘mastery’ over time.
These teaching units are broken down into smaller connected sections, to help children understand concepts better. This approach means that children do not cover too many concepts at once which can lead to cognitive overload.
Each lesson phase provides the means for children to achieve greater depth, with children who are quick to grasp new content, being offered rich and sophisticated problems, within the lesson as appropriate.
Impact
The school has supportive values and our approaches support the children in developing their collaborative and independent skills, as well as empathy and the need to recognize the achievement of others. Students can underperform in Mathematics because they think they cannot do it or are not naturally good at it. The Academy addresses these preconceptions by ensuring that all children experience challenge and success in Mathematics by developing a growth mindset.
Regular and ongoing assessment informs teaching, as well as intervention, to support and enable the success of each child. These factors ensure that we are able to maintain high standards, with achievement at the end of KS2 well above the national average, as well an increasingly high proportion of children demonstrating greater depth, at the end of each phase.
Teaching and Learning
Representation and Structure Representations used in lessons expose the mathematical structure being taught, the aim being that students can do the maths without recourse to the representation Mathematical Thinking If taught ideas are to be understood deeply, they must not merely be passively received but must be worked on by the student: thought about, reasoned with and discussed with others Fluency Quick and efficient recall of facts and procedures and the flexibility to move between different contexts and representations of mathematics Variation is twofold. It is firstly about how the teacher represents the concept being taught, often in more than one way, to draw attention to critical aspects, and to develop deep and holistic understanding. It is also about the sequencing of the episodes, activities and exercises used within a lesson and follow up practice, paying attention to what is kept the same and what changes, to connect the mathematics and draw attention to mathematical relationships and structure. Maths is taught daily during the morning. A typical maths lesson lasts approximately 45 minutes and begins with an activity.The small step for the lesson is then shared with the children and they revisit key concepts from previous learning that support the key learning of the lesson. Children then solve contextual problems as a class, with the teacher that expose the structure of the mathematical concept. In this part of the lesson, teachers use careful questions to draw out children’s discussions and their reasoning and the children learn from misconceptions through whole class reasoning. To support this, the teacher will often use a stem sentence to scaffold children’s articulation of mathematical ideas and reasoning, and/or a generalization that supports application of the concept. The variation in this part of the lesson enables a deeper understanding of the concept and may include the use of related concrete resources, as well as representations of the problem to provide a secure base of understanding. Children will then complete the start of their practice task. The teacher will review responses and then share answers and strategies, addressing any misconceptions, before children continue with their practice. This practice uses conceptual and procedural variation to build fluency and develop greater understanding of underlying mathematical concepts. This supports mathematical thinking and enables children to: ‘Recognize and use connections among mathematical ideas; understand how mathematical ideas interconnect and build on one another to produce a coherent whole; recognize and apply mathematics in contexts outside of mathematics where appropriate and depending on the topic, children will continue to have access to concrete resources which they can use to complete the practice task. Some children might be supported through additional scaffolding provided by the teacher. This may include provided models of the calculation method that the children will need to use, or copies of the worded question, with key aspects and vocabulary highlighted. Children who complete this are provided with further ‘rich and sophisticated’ problems which they complete in their own maths book.
Assessment
∙ At the end of the lesson, the children review their work and self and peer assessment are used consistently as outlined in our Marking and Feedback Regulations.
∙ Opportunities for additional practice and correction are provided by the teacher, as appropriate, during marking, with a focus on promoting and achieving a growth mindset approach in the subject.
Short term assessment is a feature of each week. Observations and careful questioning enable teachers to adjust lessons and brief as necessary. At the end of Weekly Cycle, the children also complete the CCSS aligned Lesson Assessment’. The outcome of this is used by the teacher to ensure that any identified gaps in understanding can be addressed before the next Cycle is taught. Each child’s scores are also input on a class spreadsheet, which provides an overview of achievement in each specific area within the program of study. This also informs dialogue with parents and Caregivers during open evenings, as well as the judgements made at the end of the term as to the extent that each child has achieved the expectation for their year group. Also, teachers administer a termly Exam which specifically links to the coverage for that term. The results of these Exams and lesson’s assessments are used to identify children’s ongoing target areas, which are communicated to the children, as well as to parents and caregivers. They are also used alongside the end of unit assessments and outcomes of work, to inform the whole school tracking of attainment and progress of each child.
Role of the Subject Teacher
∙ The subject Teacher will promote Maths through best practice. They will ensure the high quality of Maths displays around the school
∙ The subject Teacher will monitor progression and continuity of Maths throughout the school through lesson observations and regular monitoring of outcomes of work in Maths exercise books.
∙ The subject Teacher will monitor children’s progress through the analysis of Exams and assessment data. They will use this data to inform the subject development plan which will detail how standards in the subject are to be maintained and developed further.
∙ The subject Teacher will develop opportunities for parents/caregivers to become more involved in Maths education.
Parents
The school recognizes that parents and caregivers have a valuable role to play in supporting their child’s mathematical learning. Activities which link to each Maths topic are suggested for parents and caregivers to try at home with their child in each Reception newsletter. Children are given Maths homework at least once a day from Kindergarten to Year 7. Activities are to be set and accessed via the google Classrooms. At the end of a unit of work, summary questions and/or long worksheets will be provided, which take the form of multiple-choice questions. Throughout the unit of work, maths homework task will focus on developing number fluency. Parents are informed of their child’s progress at Parents Meetings and this is also communicated in written school reports. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to speak to their child’s Maths teacher at any point during the year, either informally or by making a specific appointment