Overview

A working understanding of maths helps our students understand and interact with the world around them. It is important for performing countless functions in everyday life. Maths works into almost every part of our curriculum and we exploit every opportunity to make cross-curricular links. We support our learners to become as numerate as possible as they move towards adulthood. For some pupils, maths will be an essential part of everyday life and a key skill required in the workplace. For others it will be a means of engagement and continuing a love of learning. Our pupils enjoy mathematics across all of the Pathways; most benefit from hands-on and practical approaches. Learning is sequenced so that key concepts are grasped before new ones are introduced. Constant formative assessment takes place in class, with teachers and support staff capturing evidence of progress or picking up misunderstandings and revisiting topics. Assessment, parent/carer and student feedback tell us that our maths curriculum engages learners. It helps them achieve challenging EHCP outcomes and recognised qualifications. It prepares them for college, adult life and the workplace.

  


Sequencing

Teaching is sequenced and planned to ensure that key concepts are grasped before we move onto other areas. This is essential for all learners, but we recognise that our students require repeated over-learning more than young people without additional learning needs. Some of our students have significant problems with memory – in these cases we offer a wide variety of repeated key content. 

We prioritise the most essential building blocks of maths (eg. concept of number, the four functions) and continue moving through topics that will be most useful in the lives of our pupils. This may include topics such as money, time, shape etc.

We discuss maths with parents and carers in annual reviews to ensure that they understand and agree with our proposed focus for their child’s maths-related outcomes.

We take every opportunity to use and develop maths skills in all parts of the school day and encourage families to do the same outside of school.


Pathways

In the Blue Pathway, students learn in a highly sensory way; often through 1:1 interaction, music and games. We have chosen the topics most relevant  for these students - addition, subtraction, sizes, shapes and directions; these are functions they can comprehend and engage with and ones they may use in their daily lives.

Our Green Pathway develops a little further and is taught in a thematic way with links to topics and related books. This ties in with the whole of the Green curriculum. 

The Yellow Pathway covers a great deal of the mainstream mathematics curriculum – we place a large emphasis on functional maths for day to day living and employment. See below for more detailed information regarding different areas of maths.

Maths Annual Plan

Updated: 05/07/2024 71 KB

Progression

Number

•Notices changes in number of objects/images or sounds of group up to 3

•Develops an awareness of number names through their enjoyment of action rhymes and songs that relate to their experience of numbers

•Has some understanding that things exist, even when out of sight

•Begins to organise and categorise objects

•Says some counting words randomly

•Can select a small number of objects from a group when asked

 


Shape, Space and Measure

  • Recognise big things and small things in meaningful contexts​

  • Gets to know and enjoy daily routines​

  • Attempts, sometimes successfully, to fit shapes into spaces on inset boards or jigsaw puzzles​

  • Uses blocks to create their own simple structures and arrangements​

  • Enjoys filling and emptying containers​

  • Associates a sequence of actions with daily routines​

  • Beginning to understand that things might happen ‘now’​

  • Notices simple shapes and patterns in pictures​

  • Beginning to categorise objects according to properties such as shape or size â€‹

 

Number

  • Recites some number names in sequence​​

  • Creates and experiments with symbols and marks representing ideas of number​​

  • Begins to make comparisons between quantities​​

  • Uses some language of quantities such as ‘more’ or ‘a lot’​​

  • Knows that a group of things changes in quantity when something is added or taken away â€‹â€‹

  • Uses some number names and number language spontaneously â€‹â€‹

  • Uses some number names accurately in play​​

  • Recites numbers in order to 10​​

  • Knows that numbers identify how many objects are in a set​​

  • Beginning to represent numbers using fingers, marks on paper or pictures â€‹â€‹

  • Sometimes matches numeral and quantity correctly​​

  • Shows curiosity about numbers by offering comments or asking questions​