Maths 

Vision

The aim of Maths at Southgate School is to provide consistent and meaningful exposure to Maths every day through exciting, hands- on and relevant learning opportunities. We understand that learning for pupils with complex needs is not linear and so take an adaptive, reflective and progressive approach to ensure our pupils achieve their full potential.

We aim to achieve this through:

• Promoting enjoyment and enthusiasm for mathematical learning through practical activity, exploration and discussion.
• Understanding individual communication needs and how we can support learners to develop mathematical vocabulary irrespective of communication difficulties.
• Developing an understanding of the importance of Maths in everyday life and how to apply mathematical skills to foster and support independence.
• Improving learners’ ability to solve problems through decision-making and reasoning in a range of contexts.
• Providing appropriate yet aspirational accreditation and opportunities for life beyond school.

Curriculum Intentions

At Southgate School the subject of Maths is grouped into three key areas of learning, which all pupils experience every half term. These are:

• Operations; developing a secure understanding of number, the four mathematical operations and fluency with the application of these skills in wider contexts.
• Shape, Space and Measure; developing measuring skills in a range of contexts, understanding the properties of shape and using position and direction.
• Functional Maths; developing confidence to apply Maths to real life contexts including money, fractions and statistics.

Maths is a core subject in the National Curriculum and is delivered as a dedicated subject, but is also an integral part of every lesson which is taught in school in order to develop pupil’s awareness of how maths applies to every-day life.

The Journey from Semi-Formal to Formal

At Southgate School all learners are supported to develop a secure and adaptive understanding of key mathematical concepts through the process of concrete – pictorial – abstract learning. In all classes, through all pathways, pupils begin learning new concepts through a ‘hands on’, practical approach. We believe in the importance of equipping classrooms and pupils with practical resources to ensure Maths becomes a real life experience. At all given opportunities, pupils then apply this concrete experience to a real-life scenario. From play based tasks for pupils early in their development, to real-life situations for those developing their independence. Once learners have experienced this ‘hands on’ approach, they begin to relate their understanding to diagrams and pictures. This enables learners to then being to represent their ideas using mathematical notation and symbols.