Maths

Maths Intent

At Meath School mathematical skills are fundamental to our everyday encounters and helping us to participate in experiences in and out of school. We learn to identify, use and manipulate numbers, amounts, measurements and shapes to solve problems and to assist us in a range of situations. We talk about the language and symbols we use in maths and how we can apply these to different circumstances. Children are provided with the means and opportunities to develop positive attitudes towards mathematics and support them to grow into confident mathematicians who can use their knowledge, skills and understanding purposefully in the wider world.

Pupils are given access to a variety of resources to explore and use to support visual imagery of concepts and processes to establish concrete representations. Equipment is modified or adapted to enable children with motor skill difficulties or impairments to access the curriculum, to make progress and experience success.

Aims for our pupils at Meath:

Number:

• To become increasingly proficient in the fundamentals of number, through frequent and enjoyable practice and experiences.

• To communicate knowledge and understanding using mathematical language, with fluency and accuracy, progressively.

• To have self-confidence, tools and ability to solve problems through the application and use of mathematical skills, concepts and methodology.

• To develop a positive attitude to number and mathematics for its application to everyday life and to provide a foundation for understanding the world around them.

Measurement:

• To become increasingly accurate in being able to measure a range of objects or concepts, through practical and meaningful activities and experiences.

• To be able to transfer these skills to a range of subjects, including science, and to ‘real-life’ situations.

Geometry:

• To become increasingly confident in the concepts and skills of geometry, through regular and enjoyable tasks and experiences.

• To communicate knowledge and understanding using mathematical language, with fluency and accuracy, progressively.

Statistics:

• To understand and interpret information that numbers can provide us.

To be able to generalise concepts and skills to a range of subjects, including Science and Computing.

Implementation: Maths at Meath School

Context: Why is Maths a challenge for our children?

Children arrive at Meath school with speech language and communication as their primary barrier to learning. There are many barriers to learning mathematical skills for children with speech, language and communication skills:

• Vocabulary and concepts:
  • Slow to learn new vocabulary
  • Weak categorisation skills
  • Confusions between similar words (few/fewer/fewest)
  • Discriminating sounds, for example: ‘teen’ and ‘-ty’.
  • Taking things literally, for example: ‘two hundred and sixty’ becomes 20060.
  • Difficulties in concept based activities
  • Difficulties understanding questions
• Logical reasoning:
  • Poor sequencing and classification skills
  • Poor understanding time and place, including sense of self in relation to others in time and place
  • Difficulties with comparing and contrasting
  • Difficulties with cause and effect
  • Difficulties with abstract thinking / literal thinking
• Processing visual imagery:
  • Interpreting symbols, charts and graphs patterns and shapes.
  • Interpreting information from different sources.
• Social understanding:
  • Turn taking
  • Listening
  • Sharing conversations

Meath School’s specialist approaches to teaching Mathematics

At Meath School, we teach the National Curriculum for Mathematics, although highly adapted for our learners. Pupils are taught the objectives appropriate for their ability and comprehension level as opposed to their NC year group. We strive to deliver the core NC aims of fluency, reasoning and problem-solving skills in every lesson.

• We embrace the ‘Concrete, Pictorial and Abstract’ approach to scaffold each child’s needs appropriately.

• Pupils are taught elements of visualising and verbalising strategies and skills to support children who are not naturally creating images in their minds from language.
• Key words necessary for the topic being taught or essential for generalising problem-solving skills are taught and tracked weekly collaboratively with the class teacher and Speech and Language Therapist through Word of the Week. ‘Word Aware’ approaches are used in order to identify words which the pupils should know, words we would like the pupils to know and aspirational words. Vocabulary development is progressive across the school.
• Pupils are exposed to purposeful links to real life Maths experiences to support their understanding and to provide opportunities to use their skills.
• We use a variety of manipulatives and opportunities for generalisation and retention of concepts. 
• We are able to utilise integrated specialist adaptations to support motor and visual perception needs, e.g. spatial, directional and movement through collaboration with teaching staff, Speech and Language Therapists and OT.