The aims and importance of learning provision for numeracy development are to ensure all students understand that maths is a vital part of everyday life and will continue to be used throughout their life. Primary schools will teach students to learn various methods and techniques to be able to reach the correct answer. The end goal means more students will be able to solve a mathematical problem, independently, using a method that suits them. They can then develop their learning to improve their knowledge and apply it to real life situations; such as counting in groups of numbers such as 5’s or 10’s, which in turn can be applied when paying for shopping with money. As students progress they can build on these skills, by recording the levels of achievement, they can be supported to help fully access the curriculum.
The national curriculum framework for mathematics including age-related expectations of learners, as relevant to my setting, is limited. In my setting the basic aspects of maths such as shape, counting and sorting etc are a challenge for many students. Age-related expectations cannot be applied as the intellectual development does not match age/physical development. Many are only working at P scale levels, but there are a few working to the lower National Curriculum levels. Understanding and an awareness of the skills the students possess in my setting, means practical work such as counting forks or lego bricks, can help the students understand the concept of adding small numbers; they in turn can apply the same techniques to other items and aid problem solving. But they are also encouraged to use ICT interactive programmes to understand that counting for example is not just for 3D objects. The main subject areas for mathematics used in my setting are:
• Shape, Space and Measures
• Using and Applying Maths
• Number
This could be related to the Foundation