Numeracy Strategy
“Education is not the learning of facts but rather the training of the mind to think” Albert Einstein
Mathematics is a tool for everyday life. It is a whole network of concepts and relationships which provide a way of viewing and making sense of the world. It is used to analyse and communicate information and ideas and to tackle a range of practical tasks and real-life problems. It also provides the materials and means for creating new imaginative worlds to explore. Being numerate is crucial to allowing pupils the opportunity to thrive within all the exciting opportunities mathematics has to offer. Daily opportunities to develop these essential mental maths skills are provided within morning meeting when everyone is challenged to take part in a round of countdown.
Our curriculum is developed to ensure that tasks and resources are used to challenge and support pupils’ mathematics. Manipulatives and representations are used to provide scaffolding to support pupils when engaging with mathematical ideas, until independence is achieved, and they can then be removed. To further deepen mathematical understanding all teachers provide extensive opportunities to practise and develop metacognition. This includes regular opportunities for pupils to explain their approaches to mathematical tasks to themselves, the teacher, and other pupils. Within our curriculum, problem solving is taught explicitly not simply as a challenge or add on to a task. Problems are deconstructed and information about the problem is slowly revealed to give pupils the opportunity to consider what the question may ask and what information may be required. The use of REEL (Read, Explore, Exemplify and Link) is also used with pupils as an effective strategy for solving problems and helps make sense of unfamiliar situations.
Drop Everything and Reason (DEAR)
We believe that all teachers, regardless of their subject specialism or level of responsibility, should model confidence and interest in maths, developing a culture where staff and pupils believe that everyone can succeed in maths if they work hard. Drop Everything and Reason (DEAR) supports this development through embedding problem solving and reasoning across the Academy, addressing common gaps and misconceptions.
Numeracy Coherence:
BCCET Numeracy Guiding Principles 2022-23
St Aidan’s Numeracy common methods
To further develop mathematical confidence, teachers across subjects provide access to engaging and challenging tasks which support pupils in developing mathematical understanding. Careful consideration is given to how tasks provide opportunities to discuss and compare different solution approaches, provide opportunities to investigate mathematical structure and build conceptual knowledge in tandem with procedural knowledge. Maths specialists work in collaboration with other departments to ensure that the approaches used when teaching mathematical skills are consistently applied across the academy
Numeracy Interventions:
Structured interventions are used to provide additional support for pupils that are identified from assessments as having gaps in knowledge. Depending upon the support required pupils may receive additional support within lessons working as part of a small group with an additional maths specialist. Alternatively, pupils may attend a 30-minute intervention session each week with a bespoke program of study that will allow larger gaps in knowledge and misconceptions to be addressed.
