The teaching of numeracy will include work as a whole class, in small groups and as individuals as required. It will include focussed teaching as well as on-going projects and exploration. Numeracy will be taught discretely and as part of the inter-disciplinary themes to promote deeper conceptual knowledge and an ability to apply skills and knowledge. Eden Primary follows a spiral curriculum so that ideas which children may have missed or misunderstood first time are revisited. Children may work in mixed-ability pairs and groups so that they learn to help each other understand concepts as well as learning from the teacher, but will also work in ability groups.
Best practice teaching in numeracy at Eden Primary involves the teacher (with support from the teaching assistants) in
- Developing and introducing stimulating opportunities for numeracy in discrete lessons, inter-disciplinary planning and in the classroom environment
- Being the focus of the learning, orchestrating activities throughout lessons
- Ensuring participation from all children in the class
- Ensuring children practice skills, apply knowledge and develop independence
- Creating an atmosphere of enthusiasm and purpose
- Raising expectations
- Monitoring the progress of all children
- Keeping all children on task
They use a variety of associated strategies, including:
- Whole-class and small group, interactive teaching
- Correct, precise use of maths, both spoken and written
- Encouraging mental maths and quick response
- Differentiation in tasks and differentiation by outcome
- Use of interactive white boards
- Errors used as teaching points
- Clear objectives and structure to all lessons
- Extra practice for children who need it
- Individual help for children with behavioural or learning difficulties