How We Teach Reading and Maths

Reading

Learning to Read … Reading to Learn

Reading is a fundamental life skill and an integral part of our school day in almost every aspect of our curriculum. All of our staff read with the students and are trained to teach reading including specific training in the alphabetic code and phonics.  Our approach to teaching reading is to foster a love of reading, in all its forms at whatever level the students can access it.  We start from where they are, and take them on a journey to success, supporting them to feel confident readers for lifelong learning.  Our aim is for all students to achieve success and from the start, see reading as something that they can do.

Every morning, students take part in a group reading session within a small group, matched to their ability.  The aim is to encourage them to read aloud a range of different texts, with an adult as a role model, talk about what they have read, show understanding, make inferences and practice intonation and expression.  This helps to develop enjoyment in reading. Children are exposed to high quality texts which are age appropriate, whilst at the same time, suitable for their reading age.  This helps to keep the students engaged and motivated for reading, developing self-confidence as readers.
As well as this, students have four English lessons each week.  Each lesson has a reading aspect to it with one lesson having a very specific focus on reading and phonics, which is then revisited briefly in every other English lesson.  We encourage students to see the English language as a code that we need to work out to be able to read accurately and fluently. 

At TPS, we follow the national curriculum framework for teaching phonics (letters and sounds), using a systematic approach within the Read Write Inc programme.  We supplement this with our own games and resources to ensure we maintain excitement and enthusiasm for learning.  Students are assessed regularly and an individual focus for each student ensures that they make the maximum progress with the ability to decode unfamiliar words eventually leading to automaticity in reading.  “Tricky words” (those that are not decodable) are taught as whole words and students are encouraged to look for patterns and shapes, using multisensory approaches to help them memorise them.  

For our more able students, a higher level of phonics is taught, e.g., working with morphemes and syllables and being able to manipulate these to help them read more complex words.  For those students that are ready, they will progress, in KS4 to taking Functional Skills English exams where students complete reading tasks related to practical, functional reading.

Alongside this, students listen to a wide range of texts, commenting on various aspects of it, creating excitement about books and introducing them to new language.  This also helps to develop inference skills, specifically teaching our students to think “beyond the literal” and “outside the box”.  This extends their thinking skills and expands their understanding of the wider world.

Our partnership with families at home is essential to support our students with their reading.  We work together to encourage all students to read at home as much as possible.  All reading is valuable whether it be a recipe, magazine, internet search, game instructions etc.  Students will bring home a range of books from our colour coding and number system, which will have a specific focus e.g., to help them decode words, comprehension, inference, expression or for family to read to them to develop enjoyment, understanding and expose them to a rich vocabulary. 

Teaching reading in this way enables all of our students to be successful as readers.  We teach them to read, so that they can read to learn and feel confident in all aspects of reading in their everyday lives, now and in the future.

Maths

Mathematics is a creative and highly interconnected discipline that has been developed over centuries, providing the solution to some of history’s most intriguing problems.

It is essential to everyday life, critical to science, technology and engineering, and necessary for financial literacy and most forms of employment.  A high-quality mathematics education therefore provides a foundation for understanding the world, the ability to reason mathematically, an appreciation of the beauty and power of mathematics, and a sense of enjoyment and curiosity about the subject. (National Curriculum in England: mathematics programmes of study – September 2021)

At The Park School we offer an ambitious, broad and balanced Maths programme, reflecting the aims of the National Curriculum in England (September 2021). Opportunities are provided for practical and written activities, questioning and working through problems both collaboratively and individually. The varied and individual needs exhibited by our students are met through high levels of adaptive teaching ensuring that learning materials, teaching styles and expected learning outcomes focus on the needs of every student. Maths teaching throughout the school is centred on the key areas listed in the National Curriculum in England (September 2021) and is informed by the engagement model (July2021).

The four strands of the National Curriculum are: Number, Measurement, Geometry and Statistics. For the purposes of our teaching and to ensure comprehensive coverage of the programmes of study, we have further subdivided these into 8 modules to meet the needs of our students. These match the 8 modules of the AQA Entry Level specification and for students studying at levels above Entry Level 3, fully cover the Level 1 Award and Foundation GCSE content. Learning outcomes in each of these modules will support students in their progression towards their optimum levels of achievement.  The 8 modules of Maths that we use are: Properties of Number, Four Operations, Ratio/Fractions, Money, The Calendar and Time, Measures, Geometry, Statistics.

All students have 4 Maths lessons per week. Two of the four lessons each week are dedicated to Number (Properties of Number/Four Operations) and the remaining 6 modules are taught over the course of the year – one module per half term. Each module is taught at Bronze, Silver, Gold (below recognised accreditation), Entry Level 1, Entry Level 2, Entry Level 3, Level 1 (Number & Measures) and Foundation GCSE (Grades 1-5).

All students are base lined within the first few weeks of starting at The Park, and attainment in each module is assessed annually, before and after teaching. Maths ages are assessed on entry, during each school year and on exit in Year 11. Students follow the Scheme of Learning for each module at their individual learning level. 

In Year 7 students are taught in class-based groups until baseline assessments have been completed. They are then split into ability groups and continue to be taught in 2 ability groups throughout their time at The Park. Students are formally and informally assessed throughout each academic year and targeted intervention is put in place for all those not on track to reach their target grades. At the end of year 11 students will sit AQA Entry Level, Edexcel Level 1 and Edexcel Foundation GCSE exams as appropriate.