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Parliament Hill

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Numeracy Across the Curriculum

The Importance of Numeracy

“Good numeracy is essential to us as parents helping our children learn, as patients understanding health information, as citizens making sense of statistics and economic news. Decisions in life are so often based on numerical information; to make the best choices, we need to be numerate.” (nationalnumeracy.org.uk)

At Parliament Hill School we recognise that numeracy is a gateway for opportunities later in life, but also a gateway to success in many parts of the curriculum beyond the Maths classroom. The reform of the National Curriculum in 2014 emphasised this importance.

“Confidence in numeracy and other mathematical skills is a precondition for success across the national curriculum” (DfE, 2014).

However, we recognise that students don’t progress in numerical confidence at the same pace, and sometimes there are barriers to be overcome.

To help students be empowered by their numeracy skills, we support students in the following ways:

Numeracy Testing and Tutoring

  • Each year, the baseline numeracy skills of each student in years 7 to 9 is assessed by their Maths teacher.
  • Maths teachers then use this information to plan in-class support for areas that the majority of students in a class are less confident on.
  • For students who haven’t yet mastered some of their numeracy skills, academic tutors run small group tuition, typically in the ratio 1 : 3 with selected students.
  • These students typically receive 6-8 hours of small group support, using selected resources to build confidence and fluency in their numeracy skills.

Results

  • In year 7, all students who received small group tuition made progress in their numeracy scores, with an average uplift of 30% .
  • In year 8, all students who received small group tuition made progress in their numeracy scores, with an average uplift of 60% .
  • In year 9, all students who received small group tuition made progress in their numeracy scores, with an average uplift of 70% .

We know that numeracy is an ongoing journey, and we regularly change the groups of students whom the maths tutors work with to respond to emerging needs.

Numeracy across the school

  • The numeracy scores for students are shared internally with teachers of all subjects. This means that if a teacher is planning a lesson that has significant numeracy demands, they can plan help which students may need within the lesson, and check in with students who may find the work difficult.
  • Teaching assistants also have access to this information to help them understand the students they work with.
  • Teachers from relevant departments are involved in the future planning of the numeracy assessment so that key skills are well represented, and they can access support to help them plan numeracy-based activities in their lessons.

Numeracy Lead Learners

Lead Learners from amongst students in years 7 to 10 spend a half term each year leading numeracy-based activities for form groups. This is a chance for key skills and concepts to be developed further outside their academic lessons. Lead learners are students who present to their forms – these students also gain invaluable experience from the process. Outside of the numeracy half-term, lead learners also present on other themes, such as Literacy, Oracy, Inclusion and Belonging, and Creativity.

The Journey Beyond Year 11

Changes to the National Curriculum also led to reformed A-levels, level 2/3 qualifications, and Apprenticeships. Many of these reformed qualifications have increased Mathematical content, and therefore increased numeracy demands. A snapshot of Mathematical content in new A-level courses  is below:

 

Source: amsp.org.uk

We therefore recognise that numeracy support doesn’t stop at Year 11, but continues into LaSwap 6th Form. Tutors work with students who have not yet achieved a grade 4 at Maths GCSE throughout Year 12 and 13, and we will be extending Maths and Numeracy support to more Year 12 students in the coming academic year.

If you have any Numeracy inquiries, don’t hesitate to contact our Numeracy Coordinator using the contact below:

John Petry             Email: jpetry@parliamenthill.camden.sch.uk