Maths
Please click here to view our maths progression document for KS1.
Please click here to view our maths progression document for KS2.
Please click here to view additional information about mathematics.
At Glenleigh Park we aim to create lifelong mathematicians who carry with them an appreciation of the beauty and power of maths. We achieve this by challenging the notion of ‘I can’t do Maths’. We begin every lesson with a problem, taking our children through a carefully designed sequence of lessons, so all children can keep up rather than catching up.
Children are encouraged to explore their starter tasks by using what they know and sharing their mathematical reasoning using CPA. Our lesson design follows an ‘I do, we do, you do’ approach with plenty of opportunities for children to see, do and share ideas and procedures. All lessons provide a chance for children to independently apply what they have learnt. Pupils who grasp concepts rapidly are challenged through being offered rich and sophisticated problems, known in our school as Dong Nao Jin (a concept adopted from Shang Hai) that foster a depth of understanding.
Our Maths progression document outlines the clear objectives that each child is expected to achieve in each year group. We expect that the majority of our pupils will move through our programme of study at broadly the same pace. Teachers carefully plan well-structured lessons following a hierarchy of concepts, focusing on the importance of place value, the four operations and fractions. All lessons begin with a starter activity that hooks children into the learning to start their Maths journey. Lesson design identifies the new mathematics that is to be taught, the key points, the difficult points and a carefully sequenced journey through the learning.
We carry out termly Maths assessments to monitor progress, set targets, and plan subsequent lessons. From these assessments, our teachers create a gap analysis and then follow the skills outlined in our progression document so that our teaching is always tailored to our classes needs. In Reception and Year 1, our children are developing early number sense so, as a school we have created practical assessments delivered by the class teacher that appropriately assess the stages of development for our younger children. In Years 2 to 6 we use Star assessment, a computer programme to complete termly assessment.
We empower children to be resilient problem solvers by providing them with the fundamental knowledge and fluency needed to tackle any new concept. At Glenleigh Park you will see children exploring mathematical procedures through the use of concrete, pictorial and abstract representations. Alongside our carefully selected resources, which enable pupils to gain a relational understanding of underlying concepts.
Finally, when teachers enjoy learning, they actively promote the subject that they are teaching and consequently, share their passion with their students. A big part of training for Maths at Glenleigh is developing this passion within our teaching staff so that children take on our love of Math’s beauty and power.